


The Soul Sings To

by CreativeCalavera



Series: A Warped Caretaker [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Multi, OC has paranoia, OC is mentally exhausted, OC is woman researcher, Sans just wanna keep his family together, lowly manipulative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:21:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26253319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativeCalavera/pseuds/CreativeCalavera
Summary: Book SixCalypso is fully reunited with the monsters that Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton had entrusted her with. As she is trying to adjust to the Undertale timeline, she still carries hope to return to the Delta Rune timeline. However, more problems interfere with her mission: from new dreams to the monsters she was previously a caretaker to (from the other timelines).Undertale belongs to Toby Fox.Dreamtale belongs to Jokublog.Inktale belongs to Comyet.Underfell belongs to FELLA (a good doggo?).Calypso and Stradakum belongs to CreativeCalavera (me).
Series: A Warped Caretaker [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614217
Kudos: 4





	1. Her Head is in the Clouds

_A dark atmosphere had no light._

_A few sparkled slowly grew brighter. They were burning._

_Soon, an asteroid flew by. It passed a cluster of meteoroids. They surround a still body._

_The body merely floats. She is a human. However, like the space around her, the light was dimming in her black eyes._

_A small portal opened in front of her. A group of disembodied hands seeped from the portal. They reached to the floating woman. Before the light diminished in her eyes, she was pulled to the other side of the portal._

_Her soul glowed in her chest. It was singing a soft chorus._

Pain erupted on her right shoulder and head.

Calypso found herself on the floor. Her eyes hopped around her surroundings. Her chest struggled from the impact. The side of the bed greeted her. The nightstand was near the top of her head.

The woman placed both hands on the mattress before forcing herself to her feet.

Her heart beats rapidly. She tried to ignore it.

She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “2 PM? I’m going to be late!” She ran to the bathroom.

…

In the park, there was an abandoned fountain at the center. Around it, there were wooden picnic tables. The place was overgrown and quiet. The weeds were tall, and the fountain was stained and dry.

But it was not abandoned.

Three children and a woman were at the fountain. Two sat on the edge of the fountain while the other sat on the dry shelf. The two monster kids were a bunny monster and frog monster. The one sitting at a higher level was Frisk.

The woman wore a tan-brown mañanita and dark gray dress pants. Her feet wore black sandal wedged heels. Her long dark brown hair was held in a bun.

Her hands pulled the mañanita aside and show the kids her fanny pack. “Guess what I have inside?”

The bunny monster, Connie, screamed, “Magic! Magic stuff!” The frog grimaced at his friend’s volume before speaking out. “A book! No-! Potions!”

The woman shook her head and dipped one of her hands into it. She pulled her hand back and showed it to the kids. Her fingertips were powdered with something black.

“Ew, what is that?”

The demonstrator waved her hand like jazz-hands, “Charcoal! Charcoal powder helps me draw my circles in the air like this!”

Her hand went into position. The children watched as her fingers drew a circle with a few symbols. It looked like letters. There were Greek symbols, like delta and pi, and normal cursive letters in Spanish. As she drew the magic circle, her charcoal traces glowed to a bright purple aura.

They gape in awe after she was finished. The circle remained in thin air. The writings twirled around it.

“My magic only activates with charcoal. I have to write specific stuff to cast spells.”

She tapped on the circle and it shot a laser to the tall grass. The patch was trimmed. The circle slowly disappeared.

“Depending on how powerful the spell is, I have to draw a circle big or smaller to use it once or a few more times.”

The frog monster jumped up, “How did you become a magician?”

She smiled, “I dunno. I’m not sure about types of magic people either. Everyone calls me a mage, so I’mma stick to that.”

The bunny cocked her head to the side. “So people just called you a mage? How did you learn magic?”

The woman shrugged, “It kinda grew on me, somehow.” She sweatdropped, “It’s complicated. Anyways-.”

Her right hand dipped into the charcoal powder and drew another circle. “That’s my Show and Tell. If you want Toriel’s extra credit, you have to participate too.”

Her sharp black eyes shifts to Frisk, “I know you’re the human ambassador, but you have to show something.”

They nodded and hopped to the ground. They tilt their head up and point at her.

They chose to flirt. It was a romantic pun.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I will never understand how you can flirt your way out of the underground.”

She turned to Connie and the frog monster. “Alright, your turn. It can be something simple.”

As Calypso was watching over the two monsters, a familiar Skeleton joined. He appeared next to Frisk. They sensed him.

“Hey, kid,” Sans greeted. He nudged them slightly, “Do you mind _not_ flirting with my mom?”

Frisk shrugged and continued watching. The frog child walked away from the fountain for a good distance. “I can stretch my tongue really far! I can reach the fountain!”

He _bleh’ed_. His tongue stretched from his mouth to the fountain. Connie saw an opportunity and approached the tongue. “And I can jump rope really fast!”

The frog friend followed her lead and started moving his tongue like a jump rope.

Calypso quickly ran to them, “Let’s not hurt ourselves!”

Sans and Frisk watched Calypso handle the monster children. Sans’ eyes squinted in humor. “Guess mum’s having a great time as a school volunteer.”

Frisk nodded. The frog couldn’t pull his tongue back. Calypso sweatdropped before grimacing at the tongue. It was still stuck on the fountain. They watched her pull the tongue off. She shivered in disgust before nervously smiling, “Okay, let’s go back to school and wait for your parents.” She wiped her hands with her bandana and tied it around her wrist.

She noticed Sans and waved to him. He and Frisk approached her and started walking with the monster children to the school.

Sans glanced at her. Her cheeks had faint marks of charcoal, along with her hands and arms. He narrowed his eyes. The children were talking amongst themselves.

“Were you doing magic?” Sans asked.

Calypso’s lips made a wavy line. “Yeah.”

“Planning on leaving yet?”

Calypso sighed. “Sans, knock it off.”

The Skeleton shrugged. “Well, Papyrus thinks you’re mad at us, somehow.”

The front gate of the monster-human elementary school approaches. Calypso used it as the opportunity to announce the children, “We’re here! Our mini recess is over!” There were parked cars of monster parents waiting. Toriel was by the gates, smiling. “Thank you for the help, Calypso!” She turned to Sans, “Thanks for fetching them, Sans. I hope it wasn’t too far.”

Calypso returned to the fountain. Besides the grass, there were large garden beds nearby. She had volunteered to look after the garden.

The woman sat by the edge of the abandoned fountain. She glanced at the sky.

It was cloudy. She narrowed her eyes. “Stradakum,” she mumbled.

A mental image of the deity probed her mind. The deity was in the sanctuary of a bubble barrier. She had a garden of succulents protecting her. Cal shook her head from those visions. Soon after, her recent dream entered her mind: the woman who was floating in space.

Cal frowned and lay her body down. She mumbled, “Who was that woman?”

At a strange timing, Sans teleported to her. He stood on the edge. “Frisk told me about your magic.”

Calypso didn’t respond.

“Is that how you got here? Through magic portals?”

Calypso rolled her eyes, “Look, it’s not like I was always here. I was literally in other timelines- well, parallel universes. Even laws of nature had been altered-.” She paused, “Why am I even explaining-? It won’t make sense to you.”

Sans’ teeth clenched. “Sorry.”

She sighed, “Don’t apologize-! Just-!” Her eyes gaze at the sky. It was getting darker.

“Don’t read into it too much,” she said, “You won’t like what you see.”

Sans frowned. He had read Calypso’s stats before. There was a level of energy going up and down on her body. He is worried. Whatever energy he sees around Calypso, it was affecting her behavior. She either had bursts of enthusiasm or sudden migraines. Her physical form was deemed healthy for human hospitals, but her energy is diagnosed as unstable in the monster hospitals. Some doctors wanted to study her.

Her kill count wasn’t helping either.

Before the accident with the original Gaster, Cal was just a normal human with a physics major. She was a legal guardian after Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton.

Sans turned to the trimmed grass. He sat by Calypso’s head.

“We don’t mind looking after you,” he said, “Paps’ just worried for you.”

Calypso _hm’ed_.

“At least answer me. If you leave this world through portals, would we forget you again?”

Her eyes widen. She turned to Sans.

For a moment, she saw his other versions. The Underfell, Underswap. The Horrortale Sans. She could remember the bright red iris.

“All those other Sans,” she pondered, “from the other eleven timelines….” Have they forgotten her after her transport to other worlds? Those alternate versions?

She shut her eyes and pinched the nose bridge. Her legs shifted and she sat up. She had tried opening the portal to XTale one, but she faced a blank void. After that, she deemed her portal ability as inactive.

She slightly opened her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t think my magic can reach… the other timelines.”

He lay his head on her lap. “Well, if you’re staying in this timeline,” he paused, “There’s an apartment in our building that’s open. If you don’t wanna move in with us, at least be a neighbor.”

Her hand gently pats his skull.

“I’ll think about it.”

They remain at the old fountain for a few peaceful minutes. Calypso was staying at the motel near Asgore’s flower shop. After a few months of her return, she befriended Frisk and their monster friends. It was strange how similar the Undertale monsters are to their Delta Rune counterparts. She understood why Sans was adjusted to them.

But, unlike Sans, she had experience dealing with more counterparts. There was a mystery about herself: her soul.

Her mission of finding her sons is over. “They’re doing fine without me,” she thought bitterly.

She glanced to Sans’ face. His eye lights were staring at the clouds. “Hey, Sans.”

“Yeah, mum?”

“How come you called me that? Mum? I was technically your babysitter.”

Sans shrugged. “My parents never had a problem with it.” His eye lights met her gaze. “To be honest, I thought you were a third wheel to my actual parents. Like a back-up parent.”

Her hand gave a stern pat to the younger monster’s skull. “So… you thought I was in a relationship with them.”

He nodded.

“Sans, I was in high school.”

He shrugged. “And I was a baby. I knew nothing.”

A cackle almost erupted from the woman’s chest. Sans immediately grinned wider. “How embarrassing!” she whined. As soon as her hand pinched his nose bridge, his gloved hands quickly hovered over. “Hey! Easy!” he shouted, “I only have one health!” 

The pair continued to joke with each other under the cloudy sky.


	2. Her Mañanita is Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus is helping Calypso move in to a neighboring apartment. Calypso doesn't feel satisfied with the peaceful timeline. She returns to the void laboratory to plan her next move.

Another day has passed in the True Pacifist timeline. The sun was setting. The sunlight seeped through the curtains of a motel room.

The motel room was completely clean. No bulletin board was pinned above the bed. There were no more traces of charcoal on the floor and walls.

By the office of the motel, two suitcases were placed outside. The owner of the suitcases walked out, waving to the workers inside. Just as her hands took hold of the handles, an engine hummed in front of her.

A skeleton arm waved at her. The other hand was holding the steering wheel of a red sports car.

“Hello, mother! Are you ready to move in?” Papyrus yelled, grinning widely.

The woman grinned back. Her expression slightly peeved Papyrus. It reminded him of his brother and his awful sense of humor. She strolled to the red sports car with suitcases in hand. “Sure.”

Calypso sat on the passenger seat. She glanced to the Skeleton. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?” she asked, “The sunlight shouldn’t affect your eyesight.”

He gave her a thumbs-up. “It’s what cool people like me wear!”

The mage nodded before she relaxed into her seat. As Papyrus drove through the road, her hair bun unraveled. She quickly undid her hair and tried to tie her bun.

With a quick glance, Papyrus gave an expression of furrowed eyebrows.

Ever since her recovery from the underground fight, he and his brother were checking-in with her constantly. Sometimes she wasn’t in the motel. Sometimes she vanished for a few days.

For now, Calypso didn’t seem to be hiding anything. Her shoulders were not stiff. Her jaw wasn’t clenching. It was a blissful moment as he drove her from the motel to their apartment complex.

“Sans’ worried over nothing,” he thought to himself. The sports car slowed down by the yellow light.

Cal turned. “You could’ve kept going.”

His mittens clutched at the steering wheel. “And break the code of driving conduct! Definitely not, mother!” He glanced at the red light. “I never expected such influence from you!”

The woman softly laughed in response. She glanced out the open window. The sunlight reached her face.

Her eyes closed as she felt the warm light. It was soothing.

For the rest of the ride, her mind resorted to the alternate universes. Her habit of analyzing had returned. She was reviewing the XTale, her portal ability, and her void laboratory.

Something was holding her back. Despite the peaceful timeline, she felt on edge.

The memory of a blank, white void terrified her, when she tried to access the XTale universe. “Is it the same as everywhere else?” she thought. “What if I visit the other alternate universes?”

Her eyes clenched tighter.

A memory of the young sharp-tooth Papyrus flashed in her head. Her memory zoomed in at the scene. The event happened after Underfell Gaster shoved her into a glass chamber. When Underfell Papyrus helped Calypso escape, he was holding something.

In his small bony claws, he held her traditional mañanita.

The one she left behind in the Underfell timeline.

The one that was passed down in her family for generations.

Her eyes snapped open. Her hands brace on the car door’s edge and Papyrus forearm. She spat, “Mamá’s mañanita!”

Papyrus almost steered the other way from his mum’s outburst. “Mother?! What?” He was driving normally again. “What’s that all about?!”

Calypso glanced at him, “Papyrus! I left my mañanita in another timeline!”

He narrowed his eyes, “Oh, right.” His voice held a frustrated tone. “Sans told me about you traveling through... space? Look, why don’t we buy a new one?” She clenched her teeth, “No, it’s from my mamá and her mamá and my great-grandmother! And my great-great grandmother who was the only son at the time.”

Papyrus parked the car and helped Calypso with her suitcases. She continued to ramble.

“My mamá, _your_ foster _abuelita_ , told me about how the eldest daughter received the mañanita after reaching her own adulthood. When I finished my second PhD program, that’s when they gave me the mañanita.”

Papyrus nodded along as she opened the key to her apartment on the second floor. She fumbled with the keys before opening the front door. She rushed into the living room first. He followed right behind, setting the suitcases by the the couch.

“If I don’t have it, she’ll kill me!”

Papyrus was about to say something but she cut him off. “No! I have to visit the other timelines! Once I have it back, then I’ll keep working with finding our timeline.”

Papyrus’ teeth quivered to a wavy line. He sweated and fidgeted with his mittens. “Well, dear mother...”

He sneaked a breath through his teeth. With hesitation, he slowly paced towards her, “Maybe you should stop, well, meddling with the time and space continuum. Like Sans. Except for pranks.”

His gloved hands planted on her shoulders. “Please, stay here with us,” he said “I don’t know what you have faced, but no one’s here to hurt you. My dear friend Frisk has assured that for all monsters.”

Calypso frowned. Her eyes glanced around the floor. “Papyrus, that mañanita is important to me, but,” she paused, “You both were my priority.”

Her form slumped onto the couch. The monster joined her.

“Before I arrived in this timeline, I was hoping to see you and Sans the same as when I left.” She smiled at the memories. “With you as that wiggling worm who can’t handle a sweater around his body.”

Papyrus blushed.

She continued, “But, seeing you both grown up, I feel like I missed everything. And I did!” She turned to him. “And I know you missed me. But this mañanita,” she said, “Is the closest thing I have to my _human_ family. Just one more step to finding our own timeline too.”

Papyrus tried not to frown. “Well, if you have to leave, please let Sans know. He’s been worried for you more than what he let on.”

Calypso snickers, “Really? He’d always mention you missing me.”

Papyrus’ eyeballs popped out, “That liar! I’m the one always calming him down!”

He heard her short giggle. The woman lightly shook her head with humor. She then glanced around the apartment. “I don’t really have much to unpack. I should go on a grocery errand soon.”

Papyrus’ eyes sparkled. “Can we have a cooking night?!” he gleamed, “You can finally teach me those chocolate enchiladas!”

Calypso glanced at the clock. It was about to be 3:00 PM. She stood from the couch. “I think I’ll take a nap. Then we can go to the market.”

The tall Skeleton pulled her into a hug. Her feet dangled up from the floor. “I’m looking forward to it!” Just as he set her down, his gloves remain on her shoulder.

“Please, remember, mother!” he sternly reminded her, “Our door is right up the stairs. If you need me, or somehow Sans…” He pointed at the ceiling. “You can scream very loud.”

“Or I could knock.”

His skull turned to the side with a glove under his chin. “Yes. I suppose that works too.”

After Papyrus’ aggressive waving, Cal finally closed the door. The mechanical clock by the kitchen had chimed. The hour handle pointed to the number three.

Immediately, a portal opened in the center of the living room. A mechanical hand poked out, followed by a camera head.

A robotic voice whispered. “Beta testing. Portal appointment activated. Linking to Creator... Looking for Creator...”

It turned to side angles before it saw Calypso.

“Creator!”

She blinked. Her head turned to the front door. Her right ear touched the wooden door.

She could hear Papyrus stomping to the stairs.

Calypso pulled away and walked backwards. Her body slowly turned towards the portal. She took a quiet step into the portal.

“Cierrense.”

The portal closed. She was now welcomed into the familiar empty laboratory. The camera retreated to the large screen in the center of the laboratory.

One of the mechanical hands held a clump of charcoal. Cal cupped her hands forward. It dropped the substance to her palms.

“This is the only charcoal left. It is infused with the dark energy radiating from your body.”

Calypso nodded.

As the large screen hovered from the ceiling, an armchair was under it. She took a seat.

Her thumb and index finger pinched the clump of charcoal. Her eyes narrow in thought.

The low beeps and electric hums of the computers occupied the silent space.

“Cuz.”

The camera drone drew close. It cocked to the side. “Yes, creator?”

“You’ve collected this charcoal from the leftover charcoal dust here, right?”

The drone nodded.

Cal glanced around the laboratory. In most timelines, she encountered a box machine. Either Gaster or Lab Person was in charge of the project. That box machine, no matter what alternate universe, was able to draw Calypso’s dark energy and inevitably cause an accident. Those accidents led her to seep into another timeline or universe through the void.

Cal closed her eyes. She had remembered about her first encounter with the void laboratory. She had activated her own box machine in XTale. When she succeeded, she found herself in an empty laboratory with no way out. No windows. No doors.

Only solid walls. Cal opened her eyes and glanced at the blocked doorway. Her old tally marks were gone. That’s where Cuz managed to scrap the charcoal from.

“If I open another portal,” she thought, “then I’ll run out of the charcoal.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “But I don’t have a machine that can infuse my energy into more charcoal.” Her hold on the substance clenched. Calypso quickly caught herself before relaxing.

“I could either make a new machine,” she mumbled, “Or…”

Cuz’s camera drone almost touched her forehead. “Or stay in the timeline?”

She raised her head. The camera drone retreated to the large monitor. Soon, the monitor revealed a photo album.

“You are now reunited with the Skeleton brothers. Wasn’t that your goal?”

Cal slumped into the armchair. She frowned.

Pages of new events, from helping the school garden to tea time with Asgore, were portrayed. The robot paused at the recent picture.

The group was in shock. Around the group, there was the surprised expressions of Toriel, Asgore, and Papyrus. At the center, Sans and Frisk appeared midair. Below them, Calypso was bending down in surprise. She was eventually breaking their fall from Sans’ teleportation. In her hands, she held a tres leches cake.

The picture was taken at the anniversary of the monsters’ liberation from the underground.

Calypso stared at the photo. She looked at herself. How surprised she looked.

The more she stared, the more she confirmed to herself.

Her black eyes held a glint of discontent.

Her life in the Delta Rune timeline was calling to her.

That, or the empty, soulless feeling.

“There’s so many questions left unanswered,” she mumbled. With her other hand, she rubbed her temple. “Their parents, the Skeleton parents, and my family… Aren’t they missing us?” She immediately remembered about her own development. “And how come my body can absorb dark energy? Are my own parents even human?”

The charcoal was crumbling under her touch.

"Where is my soul anyway?"

Suddenly, the mechanical hand bonked her head. She hissed and pulled away. “CUZ!”

The camera drone shook sideways. “You’re overthinking, Creator.” The monitor projected a caution sign. “That’s a bad habit.”

The arm that held the charcoal went limp. Cal groaned with frustration. Her other arm covered her eyes. Her chest followed with her steady breaths.

Her artificial intelligence assistant, Cuz, noticed Cal handing the charcoal back. He knew the expression in her face.

The usual expression she held since college. Even her old mentor and her parents could recognize it during her PhD programs.

Just as the unhealthy habits of alternate Gaster’s and Lab Person’s, Cal is eager to experiment.

She is planning to visit the Underfell timeline. “Cuz,” she announced, “Let’s make a blueprint for a new box machine-.”

She covered her mouth. Her jaw clenched.

Flashes of Undertale Gaster haunted her vision. She shook her head. "What am I thinking?!" She scrambled off her armchair and hovered to a metal desk. "That box machine is the reason why I was separated!" Her fist banged on the desk.

"Cuz!"

"Yes, creator?"

"I'm going to follow your advice." Her hands clenched tighter. "I'll force myself to relax in this timeline. No more experiments. No matter how tempting it is."

The camera lens zoomed in and out of focus. Cuz observed her expression. It noted to itself, "Frisk's determination has affected her." It nodded to itself before responding. "That's excellent, creator Calypso."


	3. The Black Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso and the others are getting ready for dinner time. Calypso remembers about an old friend, but Sans refused to answer her questions. After they return to her place, Calypso shares the origin of her charcoal magic. Sans noticed a pattern.

At a grocery store, Frisk was sitting in a cart. Calypso was pushing the cart. Papyrus walked ahead of them. He held a basket. He took a random box of pasta and squinted.

“Which pasta has the most calcium?” he mumbled, “We need to acquire the best diet for strong bones!”

Calypso was feeling at ease. She leaned onto the cart handle and let out a happy sigh.

Papyrus was serving as a reminder of her early life.

When it was more simple.

No dark energy. No sadistic monsters.

No… ghoul?”

Calypso squatted and glanced at the bottom of the cart.

Sans was snoozing. He felt a poke on his skull.

One of his eye sockets opened. “Yeah?”

Calypso held a confused look. “For the past few months, I saw a lot of familiar faces.”

Sans nodded.

“But I don’t see Gaster. What happened with him?”

The eye light grew brighter. In the next second, he disappeared. Frisk watched as Calypso stood straight. “Well, that was weird,” she said, “He teleported.” She turns to the kid.

Frisk sweatdropped.

“You wouldn’t know why, would you?”

Frisk gulped. They reviewed the incidents after Calypso’s arrival.

Ever since she returned to the Undertale timeline, Frisk noticed a figure of a mysterious monster hovering over her. That’s what led Frisk throw the red frisbee to Calypso’s direction. They are sure Sans can sense it too.

What surprised Frisk is that Calypso didn’t notice about another presence.

A dark figure would appear for a second, watching over the woman.

A goopy-looking figure.

Frisk shook their head from their thoughts and prepared a speech.

They told Calypso to wait for the right timing. That Sans doesn’t feel ready to share.

The woman fumed. She crossed her arms, “Not ready? What more is he hiding-?”

Papyrus returned to the cart, “I found penne paste! This should be suitable for your taste!” Calypso smiled before taking the pasta box. “What were you talking about? Where did Sans go?”

Calypso shrugged and lied, “Probably fetching snacks.”

…

The Skeleton brothers and Frisk were in Calypso’s new apartment.

Papyrus was in the living room. He hugged a couch pillow while watching a game show. He hears the sound of hissing in the kitchen.

Sans was helping Calypso with the kitchen. She glanced at Papyrus. “He really likes the tv. What show is he watching?”

Sans peeked through the kitchen doorway. “Oh, that’s just a cooking show. He’s rooting for the old lady.”

Calypso focused her vision to the television screen. “But it’s not a cooking competition-.”

“Right! Pour the oil and cook that chicken!” Papyrus shouted, “Only medium high heat!”

The woman sweatdropped. “Sans. I blame you for raising your brother like that.”

He winked, “We don’t have much cable in the underground.”

A toilet flushed. Frisk walked out of the restroom and entered the hallway. They glanced around, checking the doors. There were two doors at the hallway. They opened the storage closet. It barely held cleaning items. They approached the second door. They noticed a line of rubber sealing the bottom of the door.

Frisk returned to the kitchen. They questioned Calypso about the rubber seal.

Calypso was stirring the chicken and pasta in a pot. “Oh, the rubber seals any bugs from coming in.”

Sans raise an eyebrow. “You have bugs? Did you report it?”

The woman shrugged and faced the pot. “It’s nothing.”

Sans narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you seal the other doors too?”

Calypso gripped on the stirring spoon. A bit of magic sparked through her hands.

“If they see my room, they’ll see the mattress toppers on the floor,” she thought, “I’ve fell from my bed countless times from the dreams.” She bit the inside of her cheeks. “If I tell them about this, they’re going to freak out.”

After the Nightmare incident, Sans was worried over Calypso’s mental state. Being under Nightmare’s influence showed a more dangerous, impulsive side of Cal. It led her to previously kidnap Frisk and attempt to extract their soul.

“Cal?”

Her eyes widened. Sans only uses her name for serious subjects.

She continued stirring. “Yes?”

“Why is your bedroom door sealed? Are you doing,” he paused, “experiments?”

The chicken broth is starting to boil. A glass lid was placed onto the pot. With her other hand, Calypso set a timer.

“Nonsense. I just need complete silence.” She leaned onto the sink counter by her back. She crossed her arms. “I also bought a large supply of charcoal. My room’s cool enough to store them.”

Sans felt she was holding more information back. He noticed a glint in her eyes.

It was small, but he sensed excitement.

Like she proven a theory.

It reminded him of their life in the Delta Rune timeline.

Unlike Calypso, Sans continued to be straightfoward. “You’re hiding something.” His shoulders sagged, “I know I haven’t told you about Gaster, but…” He hung his head down. “We’ve been through a lot.” His feet in pink slippers shuffled. “Especially you. With those weird worlds you’ve mentioned.”

Sans approached her and raised his head. “What are you trying to do now?”

Calypso covered her mouth in shock. Her teeth clenched.

She almost scowled. “You’re too smart.”

He smiled wider. “You helped raise me.”

The oven is baking the pasta.

The door of her bedroom opened. The light of the hallway seeped in. The shadows held the silhouettes of a child, a woman, and a short Skeleton monster. Sans raise an eyebrow.

“You have pads on the floor.”

Cal nodded.

“Why?”

She ignored him. He watched her walk to the hairdresser. She pulled out a box and set it to the surface table. Her hand displayed a solid charcoal stick.

Sans and Frisk watched as her hands started glowing. The purple sparks wiggling around her body before traveling to the charcoal stick.

“After my fourth timeline, I entered a world of mages and medieval era stuff.” She glanced at Sans. “You were a Knight. I think. The Gaster of that world studied me.”

Frisk stared at the charcoal stick. It followed Calypso’s glow with a slow flicker.

“Apparently, my body easily adapts to dark energy. Only mages could do that.” She glanced at Sans. He flinched. “Or at least in their world.”

His eyelights trail to her hand. The purple glow was more embodied on her hands, but her body still held a faint glowing aura.

“Naturally, it takes weeks for me to infuse my dark energy into this stick. And more days when I have to grind it into powder.”

Sans suddenly grinned. Frisk noticed his shifting. Sans winked at the kid, “Do you mind checking on the pasta? Oh, and make sure Papyrus doesn’t add any of his ‘magic touch’.”

Frisk nodded and skipped away.

Calypso raise an eyebrow. “Why would he dismiss Frisk so quickly?” She watched as the round Skeleton taking a deep breath. She thought, “I think he’s mad-.”

He huffed, “Is that why your energy level is unsteady?!”

Calypso set the stick down. “Sans-.”

His shoulders trembled. “No! This time I get to be mad!”

The other time was the incident in the Undertale timeline. Sans was using his dark energy for Gaster’s box machine. When Calypso found out, she thrown a fit.

Calypso crossed her arms and leaned onto the hairdresser. The box shifted from her weight.

The Skeleton glared at the floor.

“After the Hotlands explosion, you were gone. No one, except me and Paps, remember you.” He formed fists in his sweater pockets. “When River Person took us in, I got us a cabin in Snowdin.” His teeth clenched. “I built another machine.”

Calypso furrowed her eyebrows and bit her tongue. She continued to listen.

He continued, “I tried making another box machine. Gaster’s blueprints were gone, but your old phone had pictures. I copied and use the parts to make the machine.” He raised his eyelights from the floor to her. “I used my energy again. But something happened.”

Calypso leaned away from the hairdresser, but she did not take a step forward.

“The machine wasn’t stable. It didn’t explode, but,” he paused, “but it left a mark on me.”

A rising feeling of fear ran through him. Despite explaining his situation, he feels like Calypso will nag at him.

He finally spat out. “That’s why my health is stuck.” He stood quiet after that, waiting for her reaction.

A moment of silence followed. Sans gulped.

Calypso’s black eyes held a sharp look. He was trying to guess what’s inside her head.

That’s what frightened him. He doesn’t know every detail of her own adventures. When she was their legal guardian, he could guess when she was tired or frustrated. Maybe with a research partner or a mentor. Or it was her mother poking serious questions about her future. Or happy with a new boyfriend.

However, with the woman standing in front of him now, her eyes were sharper than ever. Her arms were more muscular. Her old rambles were shorter, and her touches felt dull than affectionate.

Not to mention the X-mark tattoo behind her neck.

“Sans.”

He broke out of his thoughts. His sight focused on her face again.

Only the light from the hallway illuminated her face. From the kitchen, Papyrus was shouting, “It’s not burnt!” followed by Frisk’s clapping.

Her eyes grown softer. He widened his eye sockets. His teeth almost went agape. She resembled her old self.

He began to tear up.

Her hand reached to the top of his skull. Her thumb caressed it shortly. The round Skeleton almost relaxed. It reminded him of when he was a baby. He blushed and quickly pulled away.

Calypso wasn’t offended by that. She smiled, “In every timeline I entered, I had to make a plan. How to survive. How to find a way back home.” She guided him out the hallway and they slowly walked to the kitchen. “Now that I’m home, it became a habit.”

They reached the living room. “But I’ll try.”

Sans glared to the side. “Just don’t hurt yourself. That magic stuff is pretty new to me.”

Frisk set the plates on the dining table. Papyrus was scooping Calypso’s chicken alfredo into the bowls. He watched as the woman pulled Sans into a choke and rub her knuckles on the top of his skull. A happy feeling erupted in his chest before he scolded them. “Oi! No roughhousing during dinner time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I got a bit angsty. Whoops.


	4. Her Soul Is In The Wrong Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the dinner night, Calypso continued to work on her magic charcoal powder. While her energy runs low, she is visited by unexpected guests. One of them is quite possessive.

At night, Calypso was exhausted. The brothers and Frisk had left. She dragged herself to her bedroom.

The apartment had a similar color theme to the old cabin in the underground. The floor had a blue carpet and the walls were grey. However, Papyrus help decorate the walls with pictures framed with burgundy wood. Most of the furniture were burgundy, from the couch to the wooden dining table. The bedroom held a brown wooden hairdresser. Her bed was large with a lighter shade of blue for bedsheets. The pads on the floor were white.

Calypso seated herself by the hairdresser. Her eyes shifted to the mattress pads on the floor. She turned back and glanced at her reflection.

“I’ve never fallen off my bed so many times,” she thought, “do I have to put up walls around my bed? Like a kid in training?”

A sigh sounded. The woman noticed her tired eyes.

Despite her low energy, she reached for the box underneath the hairdresser.

Her left hand took out a charcoal stick. She glowed purple and infused her dark energy into the stick.

Keep in mind, Calypso did not turn on her lamps. She grown accustomed to the dark. One of her mage abilities became night vision.

After a few seconds, the stick was engulfed by a beaming purple light. “Alright. Now it’s perfectly infused.” From one of the drawers, she took out a small satin bag, followed by a mortar and pestle set.

With both hands, she broke the charcoal stick in half. One of the pieces lay into the mortar. She used the pestle to grind the charcoal into powder.

The process was making her tired. She yawned. “I’ll sleep my energy back.”

Grinding the charcoal reminded her of her human mother’s cooking. When they had to make salsa, her mother uses a _molcajete_. The memory was making her homesick again.

Her hands grew sore. She paused, relaxing her hands.

Her eyes fluttered closed. Her body slumped forward. The pestle slipped from her hands.

It rolled to the floor. As the pestle was settling from the impact, it made a circle. The sound didn’t wake the woman. She was now asleep.

The mortar was spilled. The trail of powder started from her hand. It connected to the trail of the pestle. Calypso’s hands began to glow. Whatever her consciousness is linked it, her magic is reacting. The light from her hands then spread, following the trail of charcoal to the circle on the floor.

Soon, the circle became a portal. It is mentally linked to Calypso’s subconscious.

…

Calypso found herself in a familiar bubble. The ground was rusty with small pebbles. The mist remained thick with a strong smell of succulents. Clouds of many shades and sizes surrounded her.

“Oh, I’m in Stradakum’s domain again.” She stared at the clouds floating around. They never touched her.

Calypso shivered. The last time she touched it, she was in the XTale timeline. Some clouds brought visions of locked memories or fantasies.

The mage shook her head before her feet walked to the edge of the bubble barrier. Circular layers of succulents surrounded the bubble. Despite the prickly nature, they never pop the barrier. Its pointy petals, thorns, and needles faced away from the bubble.

Calypso touched the barrier. It stretched under her touch. She pressed harder. The barrier continued to hold itself together, never breaking. The woman pulled away and walked around.

“I never like it when I’m here,” she mumbled, “Stradakum’s the reason why Dream and Nightmare are obsessed with me.”

Recalling more than a few months ago, Calypso had an encounter with Nightmare. He manipulated her to cause chaos in the Undertale timeline. Under his influence, she kidnapped Frisk in order to extract their soul and to obtain the Reset ability.

Sans and Flowey was able to stop her. Flowey trapped Calypso in the Soul Extraction beam.

After that incident, Calypso realized two things. She doesn’t have her soul. And Stradakum had completely merged with her being.

That’s why Stradakum didn’t make more appearances, both physically and in the other planes.

Calypso gained the access of Stradakum’s domain, which was apparently in a different plane.

A small cloud floats to her directly.

She cupped her hands forward and pushed the small cloud to her face. “What’s up, little guy?”

Unlike the other clouds, the small one was completely dark grey.

Calypso closed her eyes and felt herself enter the cloud.

She found herself in the blackest void. The atmosphere was thick, suffocating yet light. Like going through a layer of thick marshmallow.

The void exists in between the timelines and alternate universes. Despite the name, the void is filled with the mysterious dark energy.

Calypso was floating. Her head slowly shifted sideways. Her body was tugged towards a direction. She watched as she floated to the nothingness.

Her eyes capture a dim light. She squinted and focused her vision.

It was a floating heart. The heart was completely black, outlined with a pale lavender glow. Calypso stared at it.

“It’s a soul,” she mumbled, “It’s infused with Dark energy.” She leaned closer, “Sans is a different type of monster. He’s made of Dark energy.” She floated around it. “Would his soul look like _that_?”

Her hand reached towards it.

A hostile aura fell to her senses. She pulled away.

The floating soul was cupped by another pair of hands. Calypso covered her mouth.

They were the same hands as a _Gaster_. With the hole in each of his palms.

Something else caught her eye. She raised her head and saw a white mask.

It glared at her with red irises. The mouth stretched to a sinister sly grin.

It was Underfell Gaster.

"I- I'm in the void with _him_!" Calypso had realized. "Wait, isn't this a vision? Can he see me?!" Her shoulders were trembling. Calypso looked at herself and noticed her body moving.

The motion mimicked someone shaking her by the shoulders.

Calypso felt herself pulled away from Underfell Gaster and the Dark energy soul. She sees other pairs of white claws chasing her.

She heard a distorted voice. It held a raspy, sadistic tone.

“ _You won't escape this time!_ ”

She let out a gasp. Her eyes fluttered open.

Calypso saw the reflection of her mirror. She was in her bedroom again. The mortal bowl tipped over with the charcoal stick and dust. Her chest and hands were covered with the black powder.

“Wait a minute,” she thought, “someone was shaking my shoulders.”

She turns her head and sees a black blob.

It pulled away, trembling. She noticed a familiar set of eyelights and disembodied hands.

“Gaster?!”

Unlike his original monster form, Gaster was rounder. All that shaped him was a round body with his white head and hands.

Her heart raced in her chest. The recent vision was still registering. Her chair screeched as she stood up. She pointed to him, “Did you take my soul?!”

Gaster’s eyelights brightened and he shook his head feverishly. She lowered her arm, “Why can’t you talk?”

She hears another distorted voice coming from him. This time, the voice was less raspy.

“ _Watch out!_ ”

She noticed a source of light behind her. She turns and sees a portal on her floor. It grew larger by absorbing the trail of charcoal.

Calypso gasped before snatching her satin bag. She reached towards the portal.

She was about to command the portal to close. “Cierre-.”

One hand placed itself onto her mouth. It felt sharper, familiar.

It belonged to Underfell Gaster. It came from the portal. Another pair of floating hands took her by the wrists.

She felt a ghostly touch on her shoulders. She glanced back and sees regular Gaster trying to hold her back. His eyesockets shut with focus.

It wasn’t enough. His body was fading. His grip weakened.

Another pair of white claws placed themselves onto her forearms. With a stronger hold, it pulled her into the portal. 

Calypso didn’t know what was on the other side. After she was pulled in, she found herself falling in the air. The portal led her to the Hotlands.

Calypso sees the portal above her shrinking away. She remembers her satin bag and dipped her fingers quickly. She glanced what’s below her.

There was lava everywhere. She tries not to freeze up from the shock.

Her heart continued to race. She tries summoned a cloud, but the water vapor quickly evaporated from the lava. She tries to cast a spell, but the charcoal dust was blown away from the rushing air.

“S**T!” she thought, clenching her teeth. She braced for the impact. She hugged herself and brought her knees in.

“S**t, s**t, s**t! I can’t die like this!” she thought, “Come on, Stradakum! You always save me every other times!” She shut her eyes. “Stupid Gaster’s! This is your faults!”

Soon enough, her fatigue state was letting the sleep take over. Her energy was still low, especially when she was trying to cast her spells.

Her body fell meters from the portal. As she descends, the sounds of running heels clattered.

A tall figure jumped from the nearest plot of land. They flew and caught Calypso. The figure then landed on a nearby boat in an elegant fashion.

The figure’s arms shifted to carry the woman with one arm. With the other hand, which was gloved with a bright red, brushed the hair from her face.

Calypso had fainted. Her hands held her satin bag to her chest.

A pair of red eyelights brightened.

“N-Nanny?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess which one of her babies rescued her. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	5. Error's Intervention to Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error finds out what Nightmare had been doing to Calypso. Nightmare tells Error about his theory, planning on capturing Calypso again.

The plane of a white space had one inhabitant. He only had a beanbag chair and a box with yarn supplies. The ceiling held a collection of dolls. Each were souvenirs from certain alternate universes.

After the arrival of a guest, more chaos ensures from the inhabitant.

“You did WHAT to the true timeline?!”

Nightmare dodged the string stacks, skipping around with his sinister smile.

Error snarled, scolding him. His hand gestures more string attacks to the slimy visitor.

“And you drove _Calypso_ mad?!”

He summoned a distorted Gaster Blaster. The beam shot straight to Nightmare.

The gooey negative monster used his tentacles and pushed himself out of the way.

“I’ve been tracing her since I first killed Stradakum.” Nightmare teleported to Error. “She was never your babysitter. She’s _Stradakum_ , from my realm.”

Error spun around and summoned more strings. A few managed to grab onto a tentacle. Nightmare stiffened before he attacked Error head on.

“It’s not possible. Calypso existed before the multiverse.”

Nightmare grinned. “Then let me explain.”

Error dodged an attack before landing a few feet away.

“When Stradakum’s essence goes into the void, there’s no concept of time.” He glanced at a window. “She was reborn into another universe.” He turns to Error. “It’s a strange timeline. I barely had any access. Only reaching Stradakum’s essence gave me chance to slip through.”

Error shifted, collecting the information. For a moment, he stood still.

In the next second, he sends a blast of energy attack to Nightmare.

The slimy, negative deity continued to ramble.

“Wherever the classic Sans came from, it’s before the true timeline. You’re hiding something.”

Error started sweating.

“That means you’re either from a timeline before the True timeline. Or you’re a copy of a fake one. Same goes for your _Papyrus_.”

The mention of his brother caused him to glitch.

Nightmare narrowed his eyes. “Heh, guess I tipped him over.”

A tentacle reached to Error. It poked his forehead.

Nightmare frowned. “Damn, there’s no emotions while he reboots.” He huffed before glancing at the window. The window was showing Calypso shopping for groceries with Frisk and the Skeleton brothers.

Nightmare narrowed his eyes.

He has been hunting for Stradakum for so long. Her essence had completely disappeared. Now he’s looking for Calypso’s soul.

Once he obtains it, he can torture Calypso in front of Dream.

His teeth stretched into a sadistic smile.

He doesn’t remember his memories as Night, but he remembers the feelings towards her.

Envy, jealousy.

Possessiveness towards Dream. He felt like Stradakum took Dream away.

His eyes became more dazed. He blinked for a moment, before teleporting back to his own realm.

Another alternate Sans was snoring. Nightmare waked to him, staring.

Killer!Sans stretched before rolling to the side. Soft snores reached to his boss’ ears.

Nightmare scowled.

“I can’t get help from these bozos,” he thought, “Any Sans from an _alternate_ timeline has the same memories prior to the fallen child. Each of them was raised by this ‘Calypso.’”

He turned away and paced. His steps echoed through his realm of a dark atmosphere. Only negative emotions filled the space.

“Error’s down, but Ink’s watching over the true timeline,” he mumbled. His eyes became droopy.

He plans to disable Ink before capturing Calypso.

Killer Sans immediately woke up. He raised his chest and head. His arms supported his weight. “Oh, when did you get back?”

Nightmare waved him off, “Just got here. I’m planning something big.”

Killer Sans got to his feet before stretching. “For what?”

He felt a new energy radiating from Nightmare.

His boss grinned wider, “It’s a personal errand for me. Once mama bird leaves her nest, I’ll cage her as my new trophy.”

Killer Sans sweatdropped. “Wow, whoever this is, she must’ve p***ed you off pretty badly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't mistaken Nightmare's feelings to Calypso as romantic or "sick love." He has sick plans to brainwash her again.


	6. The Small Guardian is Now Tall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Underfell Papyrus reminiscences his memories with Nanny Person before the lab incident with Underfell Gaster. He noticed someone falling from the dark sky.

Underfell Papyrus was patrolling the Hotlands. The lava warmed his bones as his red heels stomped the empty pathway.

Underfell Alphys’ laboratory shrunk behind him. He was heading to another chunk of land.

He reached to a bridge, but the bridge was destroyed. Across from him, there was a small island filled with ruins of an old laboratory.

He narrowed his eyes, remembering a few people.

Old visions of the long bridge reminiscences the sharp-tooth Skeleton.

When he was a younger and very short, he was holding hands with someone.

She wore a long robe and a hood. Her face was enveloped with the shadows, never exposing her face.

Despite seeing her face, only once, young Papyrus didn’t care that she was human. She became his idol. Someone who never ridiculed him. To color pretty flowers for.

She brought a new perspective, love instead of LV.

The present Underfell Papyrus stared at the lava.

Painful moments seeped into his mind. They were about his Nanny’s last moments in Underfell.

He remembered the red-eyed Gaster draining her energy at the lab. The sharp-tooth Papyrus was mentally agonized. He sat by her bedside while she recovered.

Before the sadistic scientist kicked him out.

Next thing he knew, Gaster dragged Nanny Person to have her soul extracted. The whole altercation led to her sacrificing herself. His brother, who was one of the lab students, took Papyrus out in time.

They were the only survivors. They watched as the whole building exploded and the bridge slowly crumbled into the lava.

“Nanny Person,” he mumbled, “I’m not much of a science person…” His red eyelights glanced to the ruins of Gaster’s laboratory. “But I would like to think,” he paused, “that the machine took you to the surface, and it killed Gaster.”

He raises his head to the dark ceiling of the underground. “It’s been ten years, Nanny.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “Sometimes, I would like to think you had a child. Then that child fell down with a mission.” He paused again. “To save us. Or- well, remind me of _mercy_.”

He was referring to Frisk. A human child that lived with Toriel and sometimes the Skeleton brothers. Right now, they’re at a medical check-up with Alphys.

Papyrus’ eye sockets open and glanced at the missing bridge. Whenever he was in the Hotlands, he always visits to the ruins of Gaster’s lab.

He summoned a bone to his right palm. “You used to call me your little Knight.” His claws clutched. “I’m one of the elite Guards now, Nanny. Are you proud of me?”

A few seconds after his question, he heard a strange voice.

“ _Stupid Gaster’s! This is your faults_!”

The sharp-tooth Skeleton gaped. He glanced both ways before squinting his eye sockets to the ceiling.

There was a figure falling to the lava.

The Guard quickly sprung into action. He leaped into a sprint, moving his arms along with rigid fashion. He noticed a small boat nearby.

Heats Flamesman was rushing to Mettaton’s newest concert.

Papyrus leaped from the edge of land. He summoned towers of bones as a stairway to the falling figure. He extended his arms and caught the stranger.

Flamesman almost screamed, seeing a pair of red high-heeled boots landing on his small boat. His eyes were wide, tracing to the Skeleton.

Papyrus held the stranger, noticing that they were soft and warm.

Their dark colored hair was loose and covered their face. Their hands clutched a small satin bag to her chest.

“She’s human,” he thought, “like Frisk.”

She did not respond to his rescue, but she was breathing.

With his free hand, he moved the hair from the stranger’s face.

His red eye lights glow bright.

“This can’t be her,” he thought, “This can’t be…”

He muttered, “N-Nanny?”

He turns to the small fire monster.

A sharp bone reached to the small Flamesman’s gaping face.

The tall Guardian glared at him, “It’s a pity you had to see this. But no one should know about _her_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooohhh, now we're going to see a little reunion!


	7. Another Memory, Another Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso is frustrated with the repeating pattern of Stradakum's domain and timelines. However, she discovered a past injury and a possible pattern at the Underfell timeline. 
> 
> There's a certain flashback that summarizes certain events from Part 3: "And Her Feet Hurt" Book.

Clouds. Mist.

Stuck in the bubble barrier again.

Calypso glared at the floating clouds. Her voice bellowed, releasing a wave of volume to her confusing realm.

Realm. Mindscape. Dreamscape. Calypso never understood those concepts. Not even now.

“Stradakum!”

Calypso staggered from the ground. Her bun unraveled, releasing her hair to her shoulders.

She called for the deity again, analyzing the domain.

After receiving no response, she glared the edge of a bubble, facing it with one shoulder, then charged outward.

When the shoulder hit the bubble, it stretched under her pressure. It held her back, never popping. Never breaking.

Her strength weakened and the bubble flung her back. She stumbled and fell.

“Jeez,” she mumbled. One of her hands rubbed her butt while the one pushed her to her feet.

She glanced at the clouds.

“Stradakum. In your first memories, you were a guardian of a small village.” Her eyes bounced to the floating embodiments.

She continues to speak to herself. “Each cloud represents a villager’s daydream. But now, all you shown me are my memories.”

Her gaze grew cold. She remembered the weird dream of a woman floating in space. For some reason, it scared her to the point of falling out of the bed.

Every single time.

Calypso frowned. She closed her eyes, trying to recall the dream.

“That woman,” she mumbled, “I didn’t get a good look, but I know those hands.” Her form retreated into deep in thought, her arms crossed with a hand under her chin. Her mind concentrated on the details of the dream:

The woman in question was floating, seemingly dazed. She was either dying or was already dead. There were broken objects around her, like large towers shaped like rays, and items like meteoroids. Then a portal opened. Pairs of floating hands came from the portal, reaching for the floating woman-.

Calypso hissed at a sudden pain. A sharp sensation stung her shoulder. She held onto it, noticing a wet sensation.

“Blood?”

With strange timing, a small cloud reached to her chest. Calypso frowned. Her hand reached towards it.

“This better be good-.”

…

When Calypso was first separated from the original Skeleton brothers, she was transported into the Underfell timeline.

The cloud let her to her final moments before the lab accident. Calypso watched as the events unfolded before her.

_Underfell Gaster decided to torture the young Papyrus mentally by hurting ‘Nanny Person’ Calypso in his lab. Calypso was recovering from the energy extraction._

_The ghoul woke the woman in the dormitory Like any post-nap feeling, she wasn’t grounded yet. She found herself bonded to the bed._

_The sadistic ghoul acted coy with her, announcing his plans to continue extracting her mysterious energy. In his readings, he discovered her body was radiating 10% of a mysterious energy._

_Unbeknownst to him and Calypso at the time, that was the Dark energy._

_When Calypso asked for the Skeleton brothers, Gaster acted cold immediately. The woman looked ahead and found a machine hovering over her. There was a group of needles targeting her face._

_At this time, Calypso understood the situation and went into shock. Her mouth went agape. In the following sigh, a long white fluffy vape slipped form her lips._

_The ghoul with red eyes dropped his clipboard. He watched as Stradakum took over Calypso’s body. He watched as her mouth and eyes were completely void of flesh. He stumbled off his stool, taking a step back. Observing._

_He saw Calypso now standing by the bed. The straps were gone._

_“Nanny- Calypso?” he breathed out. Quickly, he summoned his weaponized monster weapons, his blasters, by his side._

_When he fired a warning shot, and she slumped forward. The water vapor surrounded her body. It touched the machines and it stopped operating._

_Gaster scowled and fired a small shot at her. It hit her shoulder and she fell backwards. There was a mark steaming through her cloak._

_The beam hit her shoulder. Calypso was bleeding now._

_Gaster smirked, thinking he won._

The cloud decided to end her memory there. The woman found herself waking from Stradakum's domain.

…

Calypso suddenly sat up, bracing her shoulder. She registered the recent memory.

She blankly said, “Huh. So that’s what happened.”

Her hand felt a soft, secure hold around her shoulder. Her eyes wander, noticing her shirt gone with a long wrap treating her shoulder injury.

Her blood stained the clean white bandages.

“Interesting,” she mumbled, “Whenever I transport to a new timeline, my previous injuries disappeared.” She became deep in thought. “But if I return to a timeline, my injury returns.”

A creature shifted slightly in the room. Similar to a shaken breath.

Her eyes quickly caught the stranger.

A stiff, tall monster froze. His sharp eye-sockets were wide. His red eyelights glow brightly.

“Oh, that’s right,” she thought, “I fell into a portal.”

They stared at each other for a couple of quiet seconds. She noticed he was wearing a formal military uniform.

Her instincts kicked in.

Before the tall monster could say anything, a pillow was thrown to his face. He caught it before a blanket hovered over his head. Calypso jumped from the bed and tackled the stranger with the blanket. She noticed the door and darted. She took a quick glance at herself, seeing a thin white robe. While sprinting, she adjusted her robe to cover her shoulders.

“Wait!”

The voice was hoarse and a bit high. She ignored the stranger’s calls, noticing the hallways empty.

She raises an eyebrow.

In other timelines, there were usually guards scattered in the hallways.

She glanced at the nearby windows. They led to other laboratories or control center. Most rooms held rays and mechanical engineering. She noticed that the place was unkept. The hallways were clean, but the rooms needed to be clean from dust.

A chill went through her. “Hope that’s not a monster’s dust.”

She glanced back and noticed there was no one behind her. She still continued to run. Her bare feet slapped against the cold floor.

Her eyes glared ahead. “Okay, I need a plan.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m stripped from my resources. I don’t have my charcoal dust. Maybe if I-.”

A wall of glowing magic bones blocked her way. Her pace slowed down.

The woman reached for the bones, feeling a slight painful zap. She pulled away, rubbing her finger. The clicking of heels echoed through the hallway. She turned around and watched as the tall monster was catching up to her.

“I can’t slip through, but that’s not the point.” She thought, “if he was this powerful and tries to talk to me, then I have a chance. It’s not like they can extract my soul.”

The reminder left her feeling more vulnerable. A sweat bead form on the side of her face.

Before all of this, Calypso was having a vision of Underfell Gaster. It seems like he was possessive over a soul.

“That’s right. I saw a Dark soul,” she gulped, “Then…” While she was blocked by the wall of bones, she recollects the recent events.

Her heart raced. Too many events, or memories, were happening under a few minutes. Or hours. How long was she asleep?

Calypso shook her head, trying to make sense for anything. She glared at the wall of magic bones while she pondered over two Gaster's.

There were two disfigured Gaster’s. One, a nervous blob, while the other held a sly smile with sharp claws. Next thing she knew, those sharp claws pulled her into a portal.

The heels sounded closer. Calypso stood her ground, shaking away her current observation. “I have to stop overthinking. Now I have to deal with this…”

She noticed the bones turn red. It moved towards her. She gasped when it reached contact with her body.

The red bones did not sting her. It pushed her down the hallway until the monster walked into her view.

The wall then gave her a slight push. It forced her to nearly stand chest-by-chest with the stranger. He was much more taller than her. She wonders if he could scoop her up with one arm. She noticed the pattern of red, black, and gold on his blazer and dress pants. He removed his cap and sighed, kneeling to her.

She immediately took a step back, but the wall of bones stopped her from drawing farther.

The monster noticed, already frowning.

His large set of sharp teeth reminded her of the wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood tale.

Until he spoke again, his voice was softly. Still hoarse and pitchy, but gentle.

“Nanny. It’s me,” He held a folded cloth and handed it to her. She took it and unraveled the item.

Calypso widened her eyes. It was her traditional mañanita. The stitching on the tag read, "Cal."

Before her, Underfell Papyrus widely smiled, “Your little knight.”

The wall of bones disintegrated. Calypso lowered her mañanita and took a step closer.

The sharp-tooth Papyrus froze, waiting. Calypso held the cloth over one arm and raise her hand to his cheekbone. Even his first row of teeth were longer than her fingers. “Papyrus?”

He nodded.

Her eyes widen. Her mind gathered the context clues.

“I’m back at the Underfell timeline?” she thought. Her thumb strokes the pointy cheekbone, amazed at its sharpness. She analyzed every feature. He wore a formal military uniform, not armor. His main uniform is black with faint accents of gold and bold red gloves.

She remembers the classic Papyrus’ dreams. To be a guard. Her breath hitched for a moment. “Wait, if he’s a guard,” she thought, “but he’s not turning me in.”

“Nanny Person?” His voice broke her out of her thoughts.

She blinked and pulled away. He quickly caught her wrist. Her breath hitched again. She met his gaze.

After seeing the red eyelights, she froze. They weren’t the same eyelights as the younger version. It felt… sharper.

It reminded her of the sadistic ghoul.

“Nanny, no one knows you’re here,” he whispered, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Cal finally released her breath. Her chest heaved while her lungs recollected. “And, Gaster-?”

“Gone. No one else remembers him but Sans and I.”

Papyrus watched as his former Nanny formed a confused expression. “What’s wrong?”

Cal responded, “It was Gaster who brought me here. What do you mean he’s gone?”

His sudden change of expression terrified her. His red eyelights grew sharper and brighter. “We will discuss this with Doctor Alphys.”

The mage found herself swept off her feet. Her face reddened with embarrassment.

It reminded her of Underswap Sans.

“Papyrus?!”

He was already humming to himself. He was taking her back to the dormitory. She sweatdropped, “I can walk, you know.”

“Nonsense! You’re injured-!”

“It’s just my shoulder-.”

“Don’t ‘just’ me! Sans always does that and it gets onto my nerves. Besides,” he paused, “There’s monsters on guard outside of this building Can’t risk any of them snatching you away.”

Calypso continued to sweatdropped. “R-Right.”

After her comfortable life in Undertale, her old habits of hiding were returning. Along with hints of fear and adrenaline.

He paced to a new room where he was immediately greeted with a set of fast footsteps. Calypso glanced down and saw a child.

They met each other’s squinted eyes.

Cal blinked. She thought, "Oh. Another Frisk." She noticed the new version of Frisk was wearing a black sweatshirt with red stripes. "If this timeline has a Frisk," she thought, "then why are the monsters still underground?"

Papyrus smiled wider as he watched the pair stare at each other. A sense of pride erupted in his chest. “I knew it,” he thought, “They’re family.” He set Calypso to her feet. He pushed her towards Frisk, as if setting a playdate with toddlers. “Go on, reunite with your child.”

Calypso and Frisk set a deadpan expression.

Cal turn her head with a loud, “Heh?”

She placed her hands on her hips. “They’re not my kid.”

Papyrus gaped, “But you both look alike-?!”

Calypso glanced back to the child before glaring at the tall Skeleton. “Not all humans look alike.” Frisk pouted and nodded along.

While Papyrus stammered about his theory to Calypso, there was another monster in the room.

On the other side of the dormitory, a yellow lizard monster bounced from one screen to another. One screen held the surveillance systems. The other were cameras to the dormitory. The last screen held the readings of two people: Frisk and Calypso.

Her shaky claw pushed up a pair of black and white swirly glasses on her snout. Alphys was astonished by Calypso’s scanning. After hearing voices at the door, she sees Papyrus setting Calypso to her feet and introducing her to Frisk.

Underfell Flowey, stuck on a pot, peeked at the screen. “Who’s the lady Papyrus brought?”

The Underfell Alphys grinned at the readings. “Not a human.” She pointed to the screen.

Flowey squinted.

The screen held a body outline of Calypso. The text held her current blood pressure, heart rate, and so on. However, there was another category:

[100% of ??? [UNKNOWN ELEMENT] ]

“I’ve heard urban myths about the old laboratory. Before the accident, another scientist before me had brought in a human. That human held a mysterious essence. Something happened and it led the downfall of the greatest laboratory.”

Flowey gulped. Alphys was referring to Underfell Gaster’s lab and the explosion.

The crazy Alphys snickered, “Perhaps that’s why Papyrus won’t announce the woman’s arrival to the King. We’ll experiment her energy to break the barrier-.”

A glowing magic bone landed near her head. She froze.

Her head turns, staggered, to the sparking electricity.

Papyrus threw a bone to the screen where Calypso’s readings were displayed.

She hears the clicking of heels before sensing Papyrus standing before her.

Several sweat beads form on her head.

“ **You will do no such thing** ,” he hissed. His gloved hand pointed to Calypso, who was now hugging Frisk out of concern. They were staring at him and the lizard scientist. “We will not disrespect or harm the woman who raised me.”

Alphys gasped. Her body trembled. “Pap-Papyrus! I didn’t know-! You never told me, or Undyne-!”

His face drew closer. “Would you think I get the Royal Guard position if I ever mention my _human_ Nanny?!”

Alphys quickly shook her head, “No- You’re right!”

A stern female voice called out, “Papyrus.”

The tall Skeleton quickly changed his composure. One second, he was threatening. In the next, he held a cheery face to Calypso. “Yes, Nanny?”

Alphys covered her mouth with fear. She never saw him acting so… innocent?

Calypso walked to the pair and focused on Alphys. “Are you the one who treated me?”

Alphys nodded.

Calypso glanced at the broken screen. “Are you also the Royal Scientist?”

The lizard nodded again.

The mage glanced at Papyrus before the lizard again. “I have a favor to ask you. It could be your next project.”

Alphys’ shoulders hunched. “W-What do you have i-in mind?”

Calypso clutched at the mañanita in her arms. Her cheeks became heated, now content with the cloth.

However…

Her mind reverted to Underfell Gaster and the sole Dark Soul.

“What do you know about the void and how to access it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like Calypso is getting back to her researcher habits. 
> 
> And did you like the reunion between Underfell Paps and Cal? 
> 
> Things are about to get more complicated, so hold onto your seatbelt!


	8. From Your Fellow Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso is teaching Alphys about the gaps between worlds. Papyrus is concerned over her distant attachment to him, worrying that she will disappear again. As her presence is discovered by another monster, she discovers a life-changing property about her mañanita.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All monsters in this chapter are referred to the Underfell counterparts unless stated otherwise.

_In the capital, the Underfell monsters looked ferocious and lively. The children pickpocket the slow monsters while some were ready to punch the dust out. Most had slight patches or scars._

_A young fish monster held onto a paper bag of groceries. She sped through the streets. She glanced back, wary of any bullies. Because of them, one of her ear flaps had a tear._

_She still beat them up._

_But now, her mentor, Gerson, was rushing her out to groceries. The fish monster, running faster, felt her unkept red hair tickle the back of her neck. Her ponytail was slowly untying._

_Undyne tried to multitask. One of her hands shuffled from holding the paper bag. It moved to her hair ribbon-._

_“Oh!” Her head bumped into someone. She took a step back and glanced at the stranger. Immediately, there was a gloved hand reaching for her. She flinched._

_The girl felt a gentle rub on her head. One of her eyes peeked and saw a hooded monster._

_“Oh. A Person monster,” Undyne quickly identified._

_The Person wore a purple robe._

_“Careful, kid,” the Person said. Undyne was in awe, hearing her female voice. Not even her parents had a moment of kindness. Aggressive fondness, sure, but not… gentleness?_

_Undyne noticed another child behind the Person. A skeleton head popped out. His first set of teeth were naturally sharp. Person followed her gaze before patting the Skeleton’s skull. “Don’t pick a fight with her. She didn’t hurt me, my little Knight.”_

_Undyne’s eyes widened more. The strange display of affection seemed too… public._

_Out of nowhere, the Person knelt. Undyne flinched, ready to bolt. For a moment, she thought she caused an inconvenience._

_Undyne noticed the Person focused on their bag, shuffling through. The young girl raised an eyebrow. Before she could ask, a red comb caught her eye._

_The Person’s gloved hands reach to Undyne’s red ponytail and gently groomed her hair. “Don’t you brush your hair?” the stranger asked, “You should comb it. It’ll avoid a tangle. I should know!”_

_Undyne, suddenly disgusted, pulled away. “Get the Temmie away from me!” she shouted. The stranger paused before standing up. She felt the glare of the Skeleton child._

_As if sensing the tension, the Person motioned the Skeleton boy to stay put. The hooded person shrugged, “Alrighty, my bad.” She tossed the comb to Undyne. The girl caught and glanced at her in bewilderment. “Wha-?”_

_“Keep it. It matches your hair.”_

_The hooded stranger took the Skeleton boy’s hand and continued walking. The boy glared at her and stung his tongue out. Before Undyne retaliate, he turned away and pulls the stranger faster._

_“Come on, Nanny!” he shouted, “You promised us tacos today!”_

_The stranger sighed, “Slow down, Papyrus! I’m sure everything’s still in stock today!”_

_Undyne glanced at the red comb in her hand. She started walking to the hotlands._

_“That lady’s weird,” she thought. “All Person monsters are crazy.”_

_As she walked by the lava pools, her hands grip on the plastic comb in her pocket._

…

Underfell Undyne suddenly sat from her bed. Her eye peeked through her hands, bracing from the recent memory. She glanced at her nightstand.

The red hair comb lay under the lamp. She frowns before her phone rings. As she read the screen, one of her fish ears flickered.

After Calypso was treated, she remain in the laboratory as the sharp-toothed Papyrus took Frisk home.

Turns out, Frisk spared everything.

Whatever that meant.

Calypso tapped her pen on her cheek. “Papyrus talked as if that kid has enough strength to kill,” she thought.

“Ahem.”

Underfell Alphys was waiting impatiently.

The mage quickly set her pen down and hunch over the desk. There were scattered papers of her drawings about the “void,” disfigured Gaster’s, and the mysterious Dark Soul energy.

However, Calypso restrained the term “Dark World” around Alphys.

She proposes an idea to the lizard. "Void is an improper term. Although these are gaps between timelines, these gaps are _filled_ with a certain energy." She tapped on a paper with quotes that Frisk heard. "That is why Gaster said Darker and Darker. Even the darkness has energy, so this shouldn't be called the void."

Alphys lifted her snout. She pushed her swirly glasses closer to her eyes. "So what should it be called?" 

Calypso shrugged, "Something simple?" She tapped her cheek. "Not scary though. Each gap makes you feel like you're sinking and sleeping." Her fingers then point to the whiteboard. "Definitely not Darkness or Dark Void. You guys need to lighten up."

The lizard raises her eyebrow.

She sneered, "Tell that to our King."

Calypso sighed. "Okey, hold on." She braced her temples. "A ha!"

The lizard watched as Calypso hopped from the stool and took a marker. Her hand frantically wrote in large words onto the whiteboard, "The abyss!" She then drew a bubble with succulents around it. "And Stradakum's place will be called The Chasm of Clouds."

"Who?"

She whipped her head around, "Stradakum! The woman in my head-!" She quickly caught her words.

Alphys sighed, "I'm getting a cup of coffee."

The woman watched as the lizard began to retreat. “Can you get me a donut?”

She receives no response from the lizard.

Alphys bitterly thought about the recent events.

“I’m not paid enough for this!” She was aiming for the snack room, roaming though the empty halls.

The clack of heels catches her attention. She raises her head to see Papyrus ahead. She shivered with a bit of fright, yet peeved by his presence.

"Thanks to him, I have to postpone my other projects!" she thought angrily.

His voice boomed through the hallways. "How is she doing?"

Alphys froze. "O-Oh! Cal?"

He narrowed his eyes. She covered her mouth.

"Yes. Nanny Person."

"W-Well, she's very knowledgeable with the 'void,' b-but she suggest to rename a few things." She paused. She hesitated, "I think she's not well."

"What do you mean?"

Alphys bit her tongue before spitting it out. "She's very... r-random."

His eyelights bore into her eyes. "Continue."

She froze. "N-Not that it's a bad thing-!" She began to ramble, "She mentions r-random kids she took care of- And something about someone in her head-!"

Immediately, Papyrus stormed away. Alphys covered her mouth. "Damn, is he going to destroy my lab?" She quickly hurried after him. "D-Don't touch anything!"

Calypso was entranced by her current activity. Her hand glided across the whiteboard. The marker squeaked under her rapid doodling.

Just when Papyrus stormed into the lab, he slams the doors opened. He froze when he met her gaze. Her hair was braided, thanks for Frisk, and curled into a bun.

"Oh, hey Papyrus." She set the marker to the table and faced him. "You seem angry. Did you have a good breakfast?"

Papyrus' red eye lights steamed a vapor of magic.

He had remembered a small detail before Gaster's lab explosion.

Calypso's body held a 10 percent of unknown element.

He glanced at the whiteboard. He approached with slow steps. "What were you drawing?"

The marker began to roll from the table.

Calypso shrugged. She turned to admire her drawing.

She drew Stradakum's doman, or "Chasm of Clouds," as she calls it. Even with one black marker, she mainly drew the important things. A bubble with succulents guarding it. The mist is eerie inside the bubble.

Stradakum's form was coloring in as a black figure, as if it’s a shadow person.

Papyrus glanced at Calypso. He flinched.

Her eyes were more dazed than before.

As Alphys stated, Calypso's body has now 100 percent of the unknown element. Those were the exact same readings as the satin bag found with her.

The satin bag hidden by Papyrus,

Calypso crossed her arms, responding to the Skeleton's question. "Just someone I used to be."

The marker fell onto the ground.

Papyrus eyes widened. The mage felt her shoulders grabbed. He held a desperate look.

"But you're you, right?!"

She raises an eyebrow. "Paps, why are you holding me like this?"

He gritted his teeth. "You-"

When Alphys treated her, he saw the injury on her shoulder. It looked like a wound inflicted by an energy beam. He was told her body has scars.

There was even the X-mask tattoo on the back of her neck.

The mage was pulled into a hug.

"I'm sorry." He clutched her tighter. "I couldn't protect you."

Cal blinked. "Papyrus-?"

"I'm not leaving you out of my sight again."

He lifted her into his arms, securing her legs. "I've prepared a room in the capital. It's not much, but it's only temporary until Sans and I fit another room for you-."

Calypso lay a hand on his chest. "Wait, you think I'm staying?"

He frowned. "Yes." He leaned close. "You're not?"

Calypso quickly nodded, "Just for a bit!" She turns to the whiteboard. "You'll understand when you get older."

He held her tighter.

"I am older."

"Pa-."

"It's been ten years since you disappeared."

Her eyes widened. Her mind quickly recalled. 

"That's the same time frame as the classic timeline!" she thought, "My Sans told me I was gone for about ten years too."

She held an unsettled smile, "Papyrus. If I tell you what happened to me, will you calm down?"

Papyrus stood there, holding his nanny tightly. He stated before he granted her a slight nod.

Calypso wiggled in his arms, but noticed he wasn't letting go. She gestured to the table where Papyrus is glancing to the whiteboard.

"Papyrus. Did Gaster ever told you how he hired me?"

He shook his head.

"He found me in his lab," Calypso explained. She chose her words carefully. "He didn't know that I was human. I had experience taking care of other monster kids before." She tapped on the old sketch of Gaster's lab. "After the lab explosion, I woke up in a different world. There, I met more monster kids while I was being hunted."

Papyrus glowered. "Hunted?"

She shrugged. "Believe me or not. Humans are targeted in other timelines. I was able to find some worlds where I could relax." She thought about XTale. "Even for a while."

Papyrus nodded. His grip finally relaxed, and she found herself on her feet.

"Were you that worried for me?"

He mumbled, "Well, I wasn't sure if you were dead or alive." He scoffed to the side. "Sans told me it's better if you were dead."

She chuckled, "Well, he was never fond of me." She held a bittersweet smile. "I remember when I first saw you two. You both look adorable."

Papyrus glanced at her in a deadpan manner. "Sans was a grown monster by the time you arrived. He was tired of how you treated him like a baby."

"I can't help it! I like seeing monster babies mad!"

He gasped, "Is that the reason behind your teasing nature?!"

"Aw, did my little knight connected the dots?"

"N-Nanny!"

A blue spear has sprung in between them. Papyrus gaped and whipped his head while Calypso merely blinked.

Undyne stood by the doors, glowered them with one eye.

"Papyrus. You have some explaining to do."

A bead of sweat formed on his skull. When he turned to Calypso, he noticed her form.

She was truly shaking. She took a step back, where the edge of the table met her side.

The breathing of Calypso became unsteady.

In her past travels, she had met great and terrifying counterparts.

The most terrifying was Horrortale Undyne. She was the reason why Calypso arrived to XTale with blood soaked onto her clothes.

That's what Underfell Undyne reminded her off. Her trauma with the untold Horrortale.

“I need my charcoal to protect myself!”

Calypso just remembered about her satin bag. She grasped his chest. "Wait, my bag-." She looks at him. "Have you seen it-?"

He pulls her hands off him and approached Undyne.

"What seems to be the situation?" He glanced to Alphys, who cowered behind the fish monster. "She's a new lab assistant."

Undyne sneered before summoning her blue spear beck into her hand. "An old memory popped up." She pointed to Calypso. "Right when she appeared. A memory has been forced into my brain."

She _cluncked_ her spear against the cold floor. “This is the royal laboratory. Sooner or later, King Asgore will find her." She tapped on the floor with her shoe. "He may show mercy to that cute kid, but if there's a grown adult..." She made a swift motion across her neck.

Papyrus clutched his hands. He was able to keep his composure with Undyne.

But if Alphys had said that, he would've dusted her on the spot.

Just as Undyne in arguing with Papyrus, Calypso clutched on herself. She was wearing her mañanita that Papyrus gave her. It was a reminder of her human family before Sans’ first lab accident in the Delta Rune timeline.

As she hears the bickering between the two monsters, her breathing became steady. When Undyne’s voice raises volume, the mage experienced chills through her body. She walked to the monitors, reading Alphys’ documents.

She sees a thumbnail of her mañanita. Her interested is peaked.

As an attempt to block out Undyne’s voice, she accessed the files. The computer cursor clicked on the thumbnail and a digital folder opened. It held a text document and a picture. The picture revealed itself first. It held her traditional mañanita. In the other document, held readings. It was taken a few years ago.

[100 % of [Soft Cloth] ]

[100 % of [Secure Blend] ]

Calypso read the next line. Her breath hitched.

[100 % of [UNKNOWN MATERIAL] ]

She glanced at her clothing. As her mind recalls, it was her maternal grandmother gifted her. For some reason, her mother didn't keep it. They decided to give it to her instead. As if she was born to have it.

Calypso blinked. "But how can it, where I was raised by a normal timeline, have a foreign element?" She bit her nail. Her mind was thinking too hard. She closed the window and noticed another folder.

It held a thumbnail of her satin bag.

“They have it?!” she thought.

After repeating her previous actions, she frowns.

The cloth of satin bag is normal.

But her charcoal powder, infused with her Dark World energy, held a list of metals.

[100 % of [Charcoal] ]

The next line confirms with her suspicions.

[100 % of [UNKNOWN MATERIAL] ]

"In all other timelines, the Dark energy is foreign." She gritted her teeth. "The only logical thing is that this mañanita," She clutched at her cloth, "is infused with Dark Energy." She glanced at herself.

"Huh, I need to use charcoal powder to write spells." She lifts her pointing finger into the air. "I wonder if I can write spells if I wear the energy-infused clothing."

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind.

Papyrus and Undyne were still arguing. When Undyne threaten to throw her spear, Papyrus summoned his bone with a sharp end. They clash with a small swordfight.

Calypso blocked the noise out and began to breath deeply.

She began to imagine all the spell circles, trying to choose one.

Her finger moved as she kept her eyes closed, imaging how she would write the spell.

She drew a circle. Then specific letters.

She sensed an eerie glow. She opened her eyes and gasped.

Her mañanita is glowing.

Finally, her writings were solidifying in the air. It shares the same color as her magic energy.

The circle then expanded before forming a holographic shield. It floated to her hands.

She smiled fondly, “Aw, my little bubble shield.”

A small pain directed her attention to her shoulder. She rolled her joints.

“Ah, that’s right,” she mumbled, “My old injury from that jerk is still healing.”

“Argh!”

She flinched and whipped around.

There was a blue light glowing in front of her.

She instantly raises her bubble shield.

_SMACK!_

Something hit against her shield and bounced away. The force was still strong enough to push her back. Her behind had slammed against the monitors. “Ah!”

Her shield disintegrated upon impact. Her hands grasp at the desk surface she could touch. She raised her head and glared.

Undyne was tackled by Papyrus. He held a bone to her neck while her other arm was free.

It seems like, during their struggle, Undyne was able to throw a spear to the mage.

Papyrus’ eyes were glowing even brighter than the monitors. His red was richer than her dried blood.

He was in a trance. Similar to how an animal is in a blood lust daze.

The blue spear clacked to the floor. It echoed.

Cal realized he’s going to kill the royal Guard. Cal quickly raise her hand to her chest. “Papyrus.”

He didn’t respond verbally, but he held the bone closer to Undyne’s neck. His eyelights shifted to his Nanny.

Calypso gestured to herself. “Enough with the foul play,” she stated, “Stop roughhousing and take me to the dormitory.”

Immediately, the bone dismissed. Before Papyrus reached for her, she lifts her hand again to his chest. “Undyne. Alphys.”

Undyne froze while she recovered her footing. Alphys flinched with her walkie-talkie in hand.

Did they miss the current revelation of Calypso’s magic?

Did they not see Calypso’s recent spell casting?

The woman sighed. “Papyrus is not trying to hide me, you know.” She nudged at him. “We’re a family. We’re just catching up. Plus, don’t you want dinner?”

Undyne raised an eyebrow. “A dinner party?” The woman nodded, “Yes! I would like to invite you two over at Snowdin! I can even show Papyrus’ baby pictures.”

Papyrus stammered, “N-Nanny-?!”

Undyne shifted her head back and forth to Alphys and Papyrus. “You’re crazy.” She turns to Alphys, “Sure, why not!”

An alarm stared to sound. Alphys gasped, “The monitors caught something!”

While Alphys ran into the hallway, Undyne followed. Calypso was going to join them, but Papyrus raise his hand. “No, you’re safe here than anywhere else.”

He paused. “You said you took care of other monsters.” His eyelights were cast down. “Do they miss you too?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. It’s just a few kids though. In other timelines, I was trying to survive and learn magic.”

He glanced at her mañanita. “If I let you go, would you visit me again?”

She smiled. “Of course!”

This time, Papyrus felt her hands onto his cheekbones. She squished his face. “I’ll visit when I can. You can thank your fellow doctor for that.” She pulled away. “That’s the only good thing he had ever done. Pulling me into such situations.”

He chuckled before hugging her tightly. “I’ll be back.” He bolted from the laboratory.

She could hear his heels clacked away before noticing radio static nearby. 

Undyne has left her walkie-talkie during her brawl with Papyrus. Cal crouched down and picked up the item. She played with the dials and buttons before a clearer voice sounded out.

“There is a pale Skeleton in Snowdin!” a monster shouted, “A large X in his outfit.”

Immediately, XTale came to mind. Calypso froze.

The last time she had access the XTale, it was blank.

It truly was the void.

But now, with her mañanita recovered, she can cast magic spells and portals again.

"Maybe I'll try visiting that place a few more times..."

Calypso closed her eyes and thought about her most cherished person in XTale.

XTale Papyrus.

As her robot Cuz stated, her portals are linked to the destination in her mind.

She drew a circle and it glowed under her fingertips. She sensed the light and opened her eyes.

Her head shifted to the side. She gave the laboratory door another glance. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled. She braced forward and entered the portal.

Calypso frowned at the sight before her.

It was still empty. Nothing but white.

The woman has been dumbfounded by the range of her abilities. She understands she needs her charcoal powder to perform spells. After entering the Underfell timeline, she realized her original mañanita held the mysterious energy.

She identifies the energy as the same energy that her body is tolerant to. The same energy that lies in the gaps between worlds, the recently-named abyss. Upon writing spells and drawing portals, her cloth reacted with energy.

It drew more questions of her home. The Delta Rune timeline.

After staring at the white space, Cal flinched. “Ah, my head hurts.”

“I could make more portals, especially since I’m not limited with charcoal powder anymore.” She glanced back to her portal. “Or I could just go back and check the so-called X skeleton.”

The sudden thought of Underfell Gaster caused her to worry. Since she was pulled into the Underfell timeline, he hasn’t made another appearance.She feels as though he will continue to haunt her.

A voice, new yet familiar, caught her by surprise.

“Who are you?”

They sounded too close for her comfort.

Instinctively, she swung her arm. They sounded too close for her comfort.

The stranger pulled back, holding a large item.

Calypso quickly drew away, “Sorry, you scared me-!”

Her eyes widen.

The stranger didn’t look like he was from XTale.

She scratched her cheek while her eyes held more confusion. “Did I enter the wrong timeline again?”

She noticed he had a stain on his cheek.

Calypso held a strong urge to wipe his cheek with her mañanita. She resisted.

However, the urge to nag increased. He had stains all over his white bald head. In his hand, he held a large wooden handle.

“Wait, another Sans?”

The stranger _did_ look like another Sans.

A messy, painter version of him.


	9. Similar People, Similar Powers, Different Mindsets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso met a new creature with enough authority to share her travels. He surprised her with his knowledge, thus helping her research about the cause behind her travels.

Ink had sensed something entering another world. As he checked a certain world, he sees a new person in a void. Her voice was hushed into mumbles as her face held a concentrated look. Ink walked around her, taking in her appearance.

Her words held a frustrated tone.

She was dressed in a different outfit than before, thanks to Underfell Papyrus. A certain portion screamed out Underfell while her traditional mananita covered her top and forearms completely. Ink could capture a glimpse of an old Underfell Mettaton t-shirt tucked in.

He also noticed a tan line around her wrist as Cal lacked her gloves.

As her hair was braided and curled into a bun, her neck is exposed.

Ink was more intrigued when he spotted her X-mark tattoo. He recalls his encounters with a monster from X-Tale, thinking back to a military ceremony. When a human is promoted to a certain rank, they were awarded with an X tattoo.

She has that tattoo.

Ink finally spat out, “Who are you?”

She reacted by swinging her arm. He quickly pulled away and braced with his paintbrush. When her quickly apology reached his ears, he smiled sheepishly.

He scratched the back of his head, “It’s okay.” He glanced at the empty space around them. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear me earlier.”

He finds her already in front of him. He couldn’t pull away when his face was suddenly grabbed.

He felt his cheeks being squished and pulled.

“I’d think I should already be used to this,” she mumbled. Ink immediately reached for her wrists. “But no, it’s always your face that bugs me- Why?” she mumbled. It almost sounded like she was scolding him. Ink fumbled with her grip, but her strength was impressive. “Seriously. Did someone clone you guys and threw you across the universe?”

“H-Hey-! Lady-!”

His words muffled when she squished his cheeks again.

“No, I’m tired of hearing that voice.” She glanced back at the portal. “Stop talking.”

The warm hands suddenly left his cheeks. Just as he rubbed his face in shock, he felt his body switch to his opposite side. A pat on his head followed after. 

He glanced back to see the woman walking to a portal. It was outlined with a lavender glow.

Just before she reached it, she hears his plea.

“Wait!”

She paused.

Ink caught up with her. “How did you get here?”

She blinked. “I was here before.”

This was new to Ink. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Silence was louder than her own breathing.

Calypso shuffled closer to the portal.

“Were you able to travel to other worlds before?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Why? Are you not from here too?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m the one checking up on these places.”

Calypso loomed over Ink.

“So, you’re, like, a manager?”

Ink smiled, but this time he felt a bit…

In danger.

He shrugged with a wide smile. “Kinda?”

A dark aura surrounded Calypso.

“I want to file a complaint.”

…

Ink gaped at the monitor. A camera drone laced behind him, cocking at different angles.

Calypso was able to draw a portal to her void laboratory. Right after one step, Ink felt the empty space. It tingles a small sense of suffocation.

Although there was a flow of energy, the place felt more dangerous than an unstable hospital. The walls held windows and a doorway, but there was no openings. There were machines that beeped and hummed. The large monitor hung from the ceiling.

It held a question mark upon Ink's arrival. When a camera drone reached his line of sight, he almost jumped. Its mechanical arm came from behind the monitor.

Cuz’ voice echoed through Calypso’s void laboratory. “Creator, there’s an intruder.”

Cal raise her hand. “Identity him as guest. And pull up my journal to the screen.” 

Ink gasped when he spotted a few of Cal's sketches on the screen. He reached to the monitor. At the bottom, a keyboard and mouse popped out.

"Guest Ink. Accessing files," Cuz announced. Cal nodded before resting on the armchair. She took out the notepad and wrote a list of the places she visited. 

Besides the computer sounds, there was rapid clicking. She glance to her guest and noticed Ink shifting through the pages.

He was in one chapter, then shifted back two chapters. It seemed like he was re-reading a certain event before returning to another chapter.

The woman returned to her notepad. If Ink could identify the timelines she visited, then maybe she could find the reason why she was brought to those places.

As a precaution, She didn’t list the Delta Rune timeline. She included the Undertale where classic Sans and Papyrus currently resided.

Ink eagerly read her travels. 

“Oh! That’s Outertale!”

Calypso raise an eyebrow.

“These worlds have names?”

He nodded, “Yep!”

He furrowed his eyebrows at the X-Mark timeline. “That’s called X-Tale, not X-Mark.”

“Oi, I’m not you. I was just dragged into these places.”

He giggled, “Right.”

He continued to scroll other documents. He paused at a certain one. It occurred in a timeline after Asgore's death and scarce food. 

“Horrortale,” he identified. He read carefully on the last few pages, reading her encounter with a dangerous monster. He noticed that the chapter was fill with typos and incorrect grammar. He mumbled as he read, “Impaled by the trident… dragged to the blue box machine…” He furrowed his eyebrows at the next line. “Woke up in the X world... My body, like the other timelines, has been reset.”

Calypso glanced at the monitor where Ink was reading. A chill ran through her spine.

She explained, “I was in a trance while I was writing that. I don’t really remember much anymore.”

Ink, without looking back, nodded in acknowledge.

A few events of Horrortale caused her to be disassociated. With her arrival to the X-Tale timeline, she was mentally disconnected already.

He turns to Calypso, who was still writing on her notepad. He turns to the monitor again, scrolling through the previous pages. He smiled as he scans her journal. “Wow, you went through a lot. I have a few questions.”

Cal hummed, “I do too. Just give me a sec.”

Her ears caught the rapid footsteps. With a small rise, she sees Ink glancing at her notepad. “Whatcha writing about?”

She blinked. “Wait, did you already read my files?”

He nodded with a proud smile.

She scratched her cheek. “It’s been a while…” She showed him a list. “I’ve visited twelve timelines in total. Wanna help me with their names?”

Ink nodded and pulled her hand, “Sure! I’ll take us to my place!”

He grabs for his paintbrush and spins around.

Before he could swing his brush, he noticed a grip.

He met her displeased gaze.

“Are you going to paint in my lab?”

Cuz leaned in with his camera drone. “Creator does not like messes.” It leans to her, “Unless she makes some.” She swatted him away before glaring at Ink.

Ink pouted, “I use paint to travel. I doubt you could open a portal to a place you never been before.”

Cuz chimed in, “Yes, that is true.”

Calypso crossed her arms. “Fine.”

Ink quickly whipped out his paintbrush. A splash of paint spattering by the duo.

The mage grimaced at the puddle. “Why did you-?”

“It’s okay. You just need to step in-.”

Calypso glanced at her clothes, hesitant.

Ink jumped in first.

Calypso remain skeptical. She sees a hand stretched out for her. She took it and she was pulled into the puddle.

Cuz glanced at the paint.

Rays of light reached the puddle. The computer beeped rapidly as it scanned the dark substance.

“Oh my. Creator is gone.” Cuz concluded. Its camera angled towards the puddle. “It’s solely made of paint. No Dark energy.” Cuz cocked his camera drone to the side. “Creator should still be careful. Her magic depends on her stamina.”

The void laboratory was more deafening after Calypso’s leave.

The keyboard began to type itself. Its _clicking_ echoed through the place.

Cuz hummed, “Time to update her findings.”

The new page was titled, “Ink.”


	10. The Floating Pages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso shares her findings with Ink. The guardian answers her questions.

Calypso landed on her feet.

Immediately, the atmosphere reminds her of Stradakum’s domain. As her space was filled with a strange grey mist, Ink’s place held a warm yellow color.

Like her desk lamp in her collage days.

More homely than her pocket void of a lab.

Although it was spacious as the white void she’d seen, floating pages caught her attention. She took in the scenery, gaping.

“Wait- this place is huge!”

Ink grinned, “Pretty neat, huh?”

She faced him, “And you took care of each timeline?”

“Yeah. Kinda like a gatekeeper.”

A wave of pettiness caused her eyebrows to furrow. She frowned and crossing her arms. “You did a horrible job.”

Ink was used to Dream’s compliments and Underswap Sans’ eager questions. With Calypso’s scowl, he was taken off-guard. “HUH?”

She points to herself. He stiffens in response.

She quickly leaned in, “Why didn’t you catch me when I was first separated from the Undertale timeline?”

He quickly shook his head, “I-I don’t have my eyes on everything!”

“And what about when I was dragged through other timelines?” she narrowed her eyes, “Or when you saw me in a different world.”

“X-Tale?” Ink gulped, “Ah- I was busy fighting with someone-. Wait!” He glanced at her notepad. He flipped to a blank page and quickly shove it back to her. “You’ve seen him before right? You talked about it in your journal.”

Cal blinked at the rushed drawing, amazed.

Despite the short time, he managed to outline and shade a discolored skeleton. He held a scowl with streak marks from his eye sockets to the bottoms of his cheeks.

“Yeah. Kinda thought they were dreams though,” she responded.

Ink rushed to the floating pages and flew around. Calypso walked to the middle of the place, surrounded by the twirling pages.

“From on your entries, you somehow end up in Error’s place after fainting. Like a ghost in a way, This only happens after a few dangerous events though.” Ink glanced at the page. It used to be Dreamtale before Night changed.

Ink rubbed the bottom of his chin. He remembered that Calypso and Stradakum are linked.

From his encounters with Dream, Dream has grieved over Stradakum’s death. He had shared Ink about her powers, but another detail caught him off guard.

When Dream first met Stradakum, she had stated that she doesn’t remember her birth. She adapted to the townsfolk around her.

He poked his head from the pages. “Do you understand Stradakum’s power?”

Cal shook her head.

Ink sighed, crossing his legs while he floated. Calypso frowned, waiting for him to respond.

She had grown tired of understanding Stradakum. Just as Ink said, there was a similar pattern during her travel to the twelve timelines.

Since her first leave from the classic timeline, she encountered alternative versions of Gaster’s and Lab Person’s. Some that ended up imprisoning her, experimented, or almost killing her. She managed to save herself with an improvised attempt at using the Box machine.

The box machine was a consistent element to all the timelines.

In a medieval version of a timeline, they had a magic stone pillar.

Still, Calypso went through a cycle of running, hiding, and leaving through the gaps between worlds.

The woman hesitated, staring at the ground.

Before the classic timeline, there was Delta Rune.

Cal raise her head, hesitating. “Ink, tell me. What’s in the center of this place?” she asked, “What’s the original timeline?”

The guardian gave an expression of a raised eyebrow. “Classic Undertale.”

Calypso nodded, still unfamiliar with names.

Ink sensed her confusion. Soon after, a page flew to the woman’s face. She leaned closer for a better look.

She frowned.

The page held a scenery of a picnic. Frisk and Toriel were chattering happily. After a few moments, Flowey spouted behind Frisk to whisper something. The Skeleton brothers were approaching to the picnic.

Cal sweatdropped. She was reminded of the picnic invitation she rejected a few days ago.

Just as Cal stared at the classic timeline, Ink sneaked her notepad away. His fingers gently flip the pages until he reached to her list of visited timelines. He zigzagged around his domain before floating back down to Cal.

His voice made her jump. “I corrected the names.”

Calypso glanced at the page.

It read, “Timeline 0 = ~~Home~~ Classic

Timeline 1 = ~~Edgy place~~ Underfell AU

Timeline 2 = ~~Everything swapped~~ Underswap AU

Timeline 3 = ~~Swapped but Emo Kinda~~ Swap [Pastel Purple] Fell AU

Timeline 4 = ~~Stuckup Royalty~~ Duketale AU

Timeline 5 = ~~Magicians but Science~~ Undermage AU

Timeline 6 = ~~Everything altered~~ Altertale AU

Timeline 7 = ~~Dramatic People~~ Undernovela AU

Timeline 8 = ~~Flowers Everywhere~~ Naturetale AU

Timeline 9 = ~~Library World~~ Underlibrary AU

Timeline 10 = ~~Monsters banished to Outer space~~ Outertale AU

Timeline 11 = [Blank]… Horrortale

Timeline 12 = ~~X-Marks, Black and White world~~ X-Tale AU”

Cal held her eyes glued to the page. Her eyes remain on the first line, the ‘classic’ timeline. “Thanks.”

Silence followed. She was staring at the page with no more words.

Her fingers clench on the notepad.

Ink gulped. “And these are all the timelines you visited?”

She nodded.

He closed his eyes. “Are you telling me, that each of those Cal, was actually _you_ all along?”

She blinked. “Uh, yeah.”

He widened his eye sockets. He leaned closer, “So not a version of yourself? Like the Undertale and Underfell Sans.”

She shook her head. “Nope. It’s all just me.” She scratched her cheek. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t met a copy- I mean, alternate of myself.”

Ink beamed, “No way!” He held her hands. “That means you’re just _that_! Just visiting and breaking the law of the multiverse just by chance!”

His bright expression grew the uneasy feeling within Cal. She found her travels as an exhausting journey.

So, seeing a guardian amazed by her struggles had led to more distant between them.

The woman sighed. “Um, thanks?” She rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but when you said it like that…” She frowned. “When I was back to… the ‘classic’ timeline, I was scared of telling the kids about what I went through.” She rubbed the back of her back. “You get excited, but with _them_ …” She referred to the classic Skeleton brothers, “… They’re worried. Like _I’m_ the kid.” She prompted to the ground and rested her head. She stared at the floating pages.

Ink nodded, “Well, yeah. I read your encounters with Nightmare. Sans and Papyrus are protective of you as their trusted guardian.” He shrugged. “And you _did_ disappear on them before.”

A guilty feeling decided to nest in her chest.

A vision of Underfell Papyrus flash through her mind. He was acting overprotective since she entered the Underfell for the second time. Cal raise a hand to her forehead. “I’m heading back to fix a few things. I think I gave someone _mommy issues_.”

Ink floated to her as she approached the puddle of paint. She paused before taking her notepad out again.

She read the list that Ink corrected.

As Dream and Underswap Sans acted before, he was waiting for questions.

“Ink.”

He was right.

“Why are they named like that?” Her eyes met his.

They both held the soulless aura.

However, with Cal, a dreadful feeling filled her chest.

“Why are these worlds named with a certain pattern?”

For all Cal knows, Ink only knows about the classic timeline.

For some reason, paranoia was eating her. As if she needs to avoid mentioning the Delta Rune timeline.

In addition, Cal does not have the common knowledge that Ink and Error has. She only knows that Frisk is the latest fallen human with the power to reset.

She doesn’t know that classic Sans, the same monster child she cared for, possessed the Gaster Blasters.

She doesn’t know about the genocide routes, despite stumbling upon the Horrortale timeline.

Her scientific mind hadn’t yet learned that Undertale is a game, where the Skeleton brothers and the rest of the underground are victims to the omniscient player’s Frisk.

All of this ignorance, that she was blessed to hold, will be broken by Ink’s energetic yet nonchalant rambling.

...

During his explanations, he noticed the fatigue wearing down the mage.   
  


She stared at the scattered pages of Ink’s former drawings. A string of yarn connected writings of the classic timeline to the drawings of the Genocide route.

Ink occasionally returned to the floating pages while Calypso learned the multiverse concept. 

A cautious thought left him to ponder. “This Calypso might be dangerous if I left her alone…” 

She reminded him of another monster with a similar look of shock.

The woman suddenly raise to her feet. She had brought up the Underfell timeline again, but Ink had insisted, “Maybe you should rest here for a bit.”

He took out a paintbrush.

With a grin, he faced the woman. “Wanna build a house?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: “Alter Ego” by NTO  
> YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/9_EVz2GBN3E
> 
> Extra Note: I will be making a few comics about Swap [Pastel Purple] Fell dubbed as "swapppfell." :3


	11. The Temper of the Deserted Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is reminded of his sins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you see Gaster, envision him acting like Courage the Cowardly Dog and his yapping.
> 
> Events from "Her Soul Was in the Wrong Place" and "With Her Mind Unrest" are briefly mentioned.

_A pair of eye sockets stare to a carriage. It held the Dreemurr emblem, steering from his sight._

_Mum had left for Gaster’s laboratory._

_Even though she was bedridden a few days ago._

_A small mitten tapped his outreached arm._

_Sans snapped out from his daze, glancing to the monster in his arms._

_Papyrus was pulling his sleeve. His eye sockets barely pocked out of the red scarf._

_A heavy claw lay on Sans’ shoulder._

_He turns and sees Asgore._

_The king snorted, “She’ll be fine.” He guided them back into the castle._

_Still, Sans glanced to where the carriage steered._

_There was a question he had been meaning to ask._

_“What promise have you made to my parents,” he thought, “What made you stay with us?”_

_Papyrus, rocked by his brother’s steps, was lulled to sleep. His skull lay on the shoulder, clutching around Sans’ neck. He felt the same warmth that Calypso left in her red scarf._

_The little one wasn’t prepared for the events unfolded after that day._

_Just as Sans planned to ask that question-._

_The incident at Gaster’s lab occurred._

_After Calypso’s disappearance, he repeated a similar accident to his own box machine._

_Since then, he accepted the bitter defeat._

_There was no trail back to their home world._

_There was no way to recover Calypso and Gaster._

…

In the post-pacifist timeline, Calypso had returned.

She first arrived as a Person monster with a large appetite.

The Skeleton monster held a suspicion due to her Stats and aura.

After her face was revealed, his soul vibrated with shock.

As he was eager to be reunited, Calypso held a strange attitude towards him. Even after Nightmare’s influence, she held an obsession.

He knew she was continuing their research.

A way to back to the Delta Rune timeline.

Her mischievous behavior was reminding him of his old self. Back when he started a grocery store and working on a research project.

Yet, it was his own experiment that dragged him and his small family into a new world. An alternate world where monsters were trapped to the underground.

The sudden thought jolts the monster awake.

Sans found himself slump over the arm of the couch. He pushed himself up and looked around. The apartment that he ad his brother rented was neat and spacious. There was a guest room, which could have been Calypso's.

Sans then glanced to the carpet.

She moved into the same complex, but to the floor beneath.

She was still distant from the two.

Sans clutched at a couch pillow.

After her return, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her the question.

He was afraid to bring up any mentions of his parents to her, but the curiosity was bothering him.

Sans furrowed his eyebrows with a decisive nod. Once he sees her again, he’ll finally ask.

He’ll finally learn why his parents entrusted him and his brother to her.

Just after that determination, he hears a low hum.

The Skeleton monster stiffened. The couch pillow softly folded under his hold.

“S-Sans,” a weak voice echoed.

Immediately, Sans frowned. A tone of annoyance seethed, “What do you want this time?”

A blob formed in front of him. A pair of eye lights jarred wide. A pair of disembodied hands motioned around him with WingDings signings.

Sans shook his head, raising his hands to his chest. The couch pillow rolled to the floor. “I’m not telling Cal about you,” he berated, “Sorry, Gaster. She needs more time-.”

Gaster was shaking his head in denial. Sans paused, waiting.

This time, the blob of a monster signed at an eased manner.

Word after word, Sans became more baffled.

“What- Another you- portal?!” He jumped from the couch and stared to the floor.

Gaster jumped when Sans teleported away. His shoulders slump with defeat before sinking into the carpet. He morphed onto a wall, seeing the Skeleton in Calypso’s apartment.

His voice shouted from the kitchen, “Mum?!”

Gaster flinched after Sans teleported to her bedroom. He looked around before Gaster desperately pointed to the mess by her desk.

There were charcoal sticks on the floor.

Sans glared at the disfigured ghoul, “What did you do?”

The ghoul quickly feigned innocence with desperate signings. He had briefed him about a portal and Underfell Gaster pulling Calypso away.

“T’ch!” Sans’ thumb strained against his teeth. His eye lights seethed with a bright intensity.

Cal, despite being his babysitter, was also the only thing left of his parents’ legacy.

Sans managed to be a pillar of support for Papyrus, but he won’t hold himself together for much longer.

She _must_ come back. Again.

He whipped his head to the blob. The ghoul recoiled for a moment.

“Find any of her notes here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is to share Sans' mindset around Calypso during the series events.


	12. The Artist, the Deity, and the Mage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso shares Ink about her dreams. Her memories reflect a few mysterious about the Delta Rune timeline. Ink finds her an expert to her problems.

The Skeleton parents were an odd pair.

They were cute together, but they acted very strange.

Calypso could remember Mrs. Skeleton's impressive height with her signature purple bucket hat and her white turtleneck. Her husband, Mr. Skeleton. always wore a vacation dress shirt and round glasses. He was shorter than his wife. His head reached her shoulders. Whenever he'd go out for work, he would wear a large trench coat and a briefcase.

During a rainy day, young Cal received a call from the couple. They had briefly rested at home before they needed her services. Mr. Skeleton promptly dismissed young Cal and kiss baby Papyrus' head before running out with a briefcase.

Mrs. Skeleton greeted the girl and brought her to the living room.

For a moment, she looked distressed.

Cal darted her eyes between Mrs. Skeleton and Papyrus. She joked, "Is he worse than Sans?”

The mother chuckled. Cal noticed it was forced.

"No, no. He's not teleporting... yet."

The girl held a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

The mother frowned. She glanced at bundled Papyrus, who kept snoozing. His eye sockets were still developing, so they were clumped shut in the meantime.

"Sans and I had an argument. I think having a brother was too sudden."

Cal immediately frowned. "Well, you did spoil him-."

The mother held a rush of energy. She refuted, "You did too!"

The bundle of bones began to fuss. Mrs. Skeleton quickly cradled him, humming.

The human lay back on the couch. She tapped her cheek. She glanced around the living room. It used to be a bigger mess during Sans' baby phase. However, with Papyrus, the parents still look worn out.

Her eyes trail to Mrs. Skeleton's face. Bags were forming under her eye sockets.

"I think our recent child is more powerful. His magic is taking a toll on us."

The girl quickly sat up. "You mean-?"

Mrs. Skeleton smiled brightly, despite the news.

"Serif was supposed to be here when I ask you." She carefully handed Papyrus to Calypso. Just as Cal secured her hold, the mother's hands overlapped hers. They were gloved with a dark grey color. "Would you take him in for us?"

The human chocked out with disbelief. "I-"

"Please- You're the only," Mrs. Skeleton paused, "person we can trust."

Calypso bit her tongue. "Does Sans know?"

The mother nodded.

The human's shoulder slumped. "I’m not really,” she objected, “ _parent_ material. I can be good with kids, but-.”

"If you had a child, what would you name them?"

Calypso blushed. "Well, I would name them after you."

Mrs. Skeleton giggled, "Oh my! And if they're a boy?" 

"Same thing. Your name would suit whoever they are. Serif sounds too boring."

"Don't say such a thing! His expertise for Sudoku may seem boring here, but it's quite an honor where we're from!" Mrs. Skeleton praised, “He was the duke of puzzles!”

Calypso giggled along. “I don’t think being a ‘ _dork_ of puzzles’ is privilege.”

The tall Skeleton immediately cackled. With one hand wiggling free, she smacked Calypso’s shoulder playfully.

Papyrus fussed again with a small whimper. The two women hush a stop to their giggles.

…

Ink stood over the snoozing woman. He planted both hands on his hips. “Cal?”

Her body was spread across the floor, completely limp. Her hair was loose from her usual bun.

Ever since Ink explained the timelines of Undertale, she lost the motivation to leave. He wasn't complaining though. He continued to examine her every movement and make sure she doesn't become like Error.

He lifts his foot and poke her with his toes. He hummed, "Cal?"

When his voice reached her, she rolled to her side. From afar, there were empty walls. 

The house was still in progress.

She lifts her gaze to his eye lights. One of the pupils forms a question mark.

“Do you know that I can’t dream?” She tapped on the floor. “After I lost my soul, I either wake up in Strakadum’s bubble,” she explained, “or I dream of my memories.” Her body shifted until she sat up. “Maybe that’s why I’m always tired.”

Her loud yawn echoed through Ink’s place.

He almost giggled, “Yeah, I don’t have a soul either. I met lots of strange folks with weird ones.”

Calypso raise an eyebrow. “How weird?”

“Like broken pieces.”

She flopped to the ground, reviewing her own research. “That can’t happen. If a host is damaged, that is reflected on their body, not the soul itself.”

Ink sat down and scooted to her. “Different worlds have their own laws of nature. Completely different physics. You should know that by now.”

She sighed. “I do. I do.” She resisted an urge to reach for the floating pages. “After the Underswap timeline, Sans and Paps had different backgrounds. Family, friends, everything.” She bit her tongue.

There were a few instances where she encountered the Skeleton couple. However, they weren’t the same Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton from the Delta Rune timeline.

Ink watched as the mage's face formed a serious expression.

She never had the chance to reflect on her life in Delta Rune until now.

The Skeleton couple were always ominous. They never told her where they were going or why they have random calls.

Being janitors doesn't seem to be the real answer.

Heck, even classic Sans found out he wasn't 100% monster energy when Undertale Gaster first scanned him.

That, and a guilty feeling resided in her chest.

Papyrus doesn't remember his parents anymore.

Ink broke her out of her thoughts. "What other dreams did you have?"

Cal rubbed her neck. "When I arrive to the classic timeline for the second time, I had the same dream every night."

She reached to the scattered papers and pointed to her recent drawing.

The paper was doodled with stars and asteroids. In the middle, there was a person with a lab coat. They were floating in space. "I'm not sure if it's a she, he, they- whoever, but they're also connected to me." Her body found a footing to stand. She began to stretch. "I wanna solve these questions, but I wanna retire from all this weird world business."

"Well, why don't you?"

She froze.

Just as his question caught her off-guard, Calypso met his gaze.

Ink was right.

Since there was no guaranteed path back home, the Skeleton parents won’t find her. The classic brothers have already grown up without her.

She could portal herself to a new life.

"Cal?"

She glanced down to herself. Her hands fiddled with her mañanita.

Her lips parted.

"I need answers."

After Calypso rested in Ink’s domain, he decided to take her to another place for their research. Out of habit, she held her breath when stepping into Ink’s puddle.

Just as she entered, a hand took hold of hers. Ink helped her find her footing.

What caught her eye were the colors. Wherever they are, the forest was vibrant and saturated. She never mentioned to Ink, but the XTale left her to question her eyesight.

“Where-?”

A sharp gasp.

She turns and freezes.

Another Skeleton, but he was a friend.

Well, Stradakum’s.

A vibrant, yellow cape flew as the monster took charge. He reached out for Calypso with open arms. A hand planted to his forehead, grabbing onto his golden headband.

Calypso kept Dream away with one hand. She scowled and turned to Ink, “This kid? He’s going to _help_ me?”

Ink grinned and shrugged. “Well, it’s your dreams, and he’s the expert.” He nudged at her side, “Did you forget his name?”

The woman narrowed her eyes before turning to Dream. He was still throwing his arms around. She noticed tears teasing from his eye sockets.

She frowned before a sigh followed.

She lefts her hand.

Dream’s skull ram into her chest while his arms squeezed around her.

“You’re alive-! I was so worried! Night said he was going to- and I kept saying-!” the young deity rambled, “Then I couldn’t find you-.” He pulled away with another loud gasp. “Your soul! It’s still missing, right?”

Calypso stared at Dream. Her stern expression held annoyance to his bright, worried eyes. Out of habit, she stroked his skull. She caught herself and stopped. Her hand kept still on his skull.

“Dream, who am I to you?”

His arms stiffened. He kept his grip around her. “Well, you said you aren’t Stradakum anymore…” he paused, “C-Cal, right? Your new name?”

Cal sighed. She rewarded him with a soft pat, “Good enough. Better than your brother.”

She glanced around the forest. “Where are we?”

“Oh, just another happy timeline,” Dream noted, “There’s only positive feelings here, so Night won’t be able to enter.” Cal took the information into account. She began to think deeply.

Dream took her hand and dragged her to a large tree stump. A staff lay nearby.

Ink followed behind, taking out a handful of paper. Dream recognized a drawing of Stradakum. Just as he took the papers, Ink briefed him over Calypso’s situation.

The deity raised an eyebrow. “So?”

Ink whistled, “So…?”

Dream slammed the papers into his lap. “I was right! Calypso was Stradakum!” He lifts his finger. “I told you so!”

The soulless guardian planted his hands behind his skull. “Cal’s a special case. You’re right just this once.”

Dream huffed before reading the notes. Ink began to address the situation. “Calypso recovered her items after she was separated from the Undertale timeline. However, her soul is missing.” He pointed to the doodle of Calypso’s space dream. “She has that dream every night. She tried using Stradakum’s powers, but she doesn’t know how to control it.”

Dream nodded. He shifted his seating before Ink found a seat. Calypso was still sitting by Dream, quiet.

The deity scratched his forehead. He readjusted his golden headband. “Well, when I first met Stradakum, she was still learning about herself.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “She told me that she was balancing the mental state of the townsfolk. That’s what she does.” He points to the cloud drawings. “Each cloud holds fantasies of the person who’s daydreaming.”

Calypso suddenly spoke, “Do they also hold sealed memories?”

Dream whipped his head to her direction. “Um, possibly. If those memories cause trauma, then it could be stored in a cloud.”

The woman nodded.

Her memories of Horrortale were blocked off. It was recorded in her journal, but she typed in a drone-like manner and suffered heavy chills.

Besides Horrortale, Calypso also found sealed memories from XTale during her stay. That’s how she learned about the power of the Reset and Overwrite.

Could the space-lady dream be also a memory?

She shook her head before standing up.

“Dream.”

“Yeah?”

“You said that Night can’t enter a timeline with positive feelings.”

Dream eagerly nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.”

A thumb rose to her lips. She bit her nail.

She thought about her first encounter with Nightmare. In the Delta Rune timeline, he was able to open a portal and capture her.

But how? She remembered she was enjoying her life entirely. She took over as Papyrus’ guardian and speaking at science conferences.

Her new neighbors were nice. She went to Toriel’s dinner parties. Sans teased Kris. Everyone was smiling. She was so happy.

Right?

“Dream. I need to talk to your brother.”

He and Ink stiffened. The deity stared wide-eyed, “Why?”

Although her soul is still missing, she can still achieve her other objective.

Finding any trace of her original timeline. Only Nightmare was able to succeed.

She kneels to him and takes his hand. She chose her words carefully. As Ink was there, she avoids any mentions of the Delta Rune timeline directly. “Night somehow found me first, and he fought with Stradakum.” She paused. “He knows more about her powers than we do.”

Dream frowned. He glances at their hands.

Calypso bit her tongue. She mentally plead for him to accept that excuse.

Remembering her powers, the woman drew a circle into the air. Her _mañanita_ glowed with magic.

Dream gaped.

She smiled, “I can be pretty strong when you guys aren’t pulling tug-of-war in my head.”

Dream sweatdropped. “S-Sorry.” He fidgeted with her hand. His lips gave a defeated sigh. “Fine, but I’m going with you.”

She pats his skull again. With a low chuckle, she responded. “Thanks, kid.”

Ink stared blankly at the duo. Even though her soul is gone, she manage to have feelings. No special vials or drugs. 

The artist narrowed his eyes. He feels as though Calypso will snap at any second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending song: "Regret Roulette" by Unlike Pluto 
> 
> YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/562HdsYVMdM
> 
> Check out my new side blog for the Warped Caretaker series! I'll be posting drawings of scenes from the chapters.   
> https://warpedcaretaker.tumblr.com/


	13. With Her Mind Unrest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calypso is finding a way to activate Stradakum's power and lure Nightmare. Dream is astounded by her adventures. When they encounter the negative deity, Calypso begins to show her true colors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Events from "Her Head Was In the Clouds" book are mentioned.

The wind swept through a flower field.

A group of three sat on a picnic blanket. The pattern of the pastel serape matched with the flowers around them. Pink, teal, and pastel-purple flowers surrounded the group. A picnic blanket lay beneath them, flattening a few flowers.

Dream stuck out his tongue in concentration. In his hands, he was crafting an important item. He bent and adjusted the stems onto a crown-lie weave. The flowers were of pink, blue, or lavender shades. For a moment, he paused.

Ink, laying on the grass, held his head up. His elbow propped against the blanket. He noticed Dream’s sudden pause. “Why did you stop?”

Dream met his gaze. “Well, I think the flowers changed.”

He glanced at the flowers in his hands. Petals of the blue hydrangea fell his hold. He gently set the crown down, staring at the flowers he chose.

Out of convenience, he had taken the flowers around them. Pink begonias and rocktrumpets, lavender-shaded roses, and blue hydrangea. He glanced at the pink petunias, but he was running out of room.

“I thought I saw more colors before.” He rubbed his eyes.

Ink blinked. His eye lights shifted to the mage.

Calypso had her eyes closed, meditating. As she followed deep breaths, she caught the scent of the roses behind her. For a moment, she felt unease. She peeked her eye open.

Ink and Dream were leaning towards her, staring.

“It won’t work if you’re staring at me.”

Ink groaned while Dream sighed.

The deity tugged into his yellow ascot. “What are you doing exactly?”

Calypso flopped onto the blanket. Its pastel pattern was at least comforting to her eyes.

“I’m trying to find Nightmare. Remember those times you entered my… mind? Mindscape? Dreamworld?”

Dream nodded.

“Well, I can lure Nightmare and find what world he’s in.” She lay her fist to her palm, “Then we’ll ambush him.”

The deity continued to fidget with his ascot. “Did it work before?”

“No. Other times, it was either you or Nightmare that found me first.”

He sputtered, “But- then why?!”

Calypso sat up, cross legged. “Stradakum kinda takes over my body when I’m close to dying, or whatever.” She scratched her cheek. “She kinda stopped appearing after I was shot by Extraction Machine.”

Dream gasped, “The what?!”

Both Ink and Calypso groaned.

The woman lifts a hand to her forehead. She revered to the time Nightmare almost had her extract classic Frisk’s soul. “It’s from a fight with a flower. Forget about it.”

Ink chewed on some grass. He pointed to the papers under his seat. “It’s all in the files, Dream. Keep up.”

The deity almost fainted. Calypso and Ink were making him question his own common sense.

Ink turned to Cal, spitting out the grass. “So, what’s your plan? You know, after finding him.”

Calypso stared at the green grass. She sweatdropped, “Don’t worry about it.” She closed her eyes and began her breathing exercises again.

“How did you learn to meditate?”

She replied, “From that flower timeline. They were pretty chill.” 

“Naturetale?”

“Yeah, that.”

Pressure was pressed against her head. Her eyebrows furrowed.

She peeked with a small frown.

Dream leaned back, smiling. “Do you like it?”

She reached for the top of her head.

It was a flower crown. Petals of blue, pink, and purple trickled from her sudden pat. One of the petals tickled her cheeks.

The mage quickly lowered her hand down. “Yes, it’s cute.” She turns to Ink. “it reminds me of that flower timeline. They taught me how to make these.”

Ink huffed, “You need to remember the names of these places.”

She shrugged, “I’m good. I’m not a guardian like you.”

Dream flinched. She noticed, “What’s wrong?”

His hands picked at the grass. His shoulders slump a bit. Even as Ink and Cal doesn't sense positive feelings, they could tell his shimming aura fell dim. He gulped before he spoke again.

“Stradakum. She visited me after Night-.” He shook his head. His eye lights brightened to its original glow. He shifted his seat closer to her. “Stradakum told me that there are other guardians in this world that bring my brother back. That’s my mission.”

She reflected to his words. “So, about the guardians…” She turns to the flower field. She never knew why Stradakum had fused into her. She did receive her memories, but it was from her birth to her death. After Night killed her, there was no more of Stradakum's memories. A small hope glimmered in her eyes. “Maybe I wasn’t another version of Stradakum.” She turns to Dream, “Maybe she just chose me because of this.” The magic energy brightened around her hands. “She probably thought I was a guardian.”

Dream shook his head. She froze. “What? Why not?”

He recalled moments before Stradakum ultimately disappeared.

..

_Dream was frozen into stone. After his fight with his brother, his body hardened and was in a deep coma. When he woke up in Stradakum’s domain, she explained her story._

_Stradakum never knew who created her. In the town where she stationed, the townfolk set an altar for her._

_By the end of their last exchange, she spoke to Dream about a soul._

_“I have a soul somewhere else in this universe,” she whispered, “That’s why I couldn’t feel anything here.”_

_After her last statement, the place and her figure began to fall apart. Her figure started fuzzing. The succulents lost their color and cracked. The air felt heavy. The clouds started fading away and the bubble popped._

_After that, Dream resolved to finding the soul where Stradakum was synced to. He managed to find Calypso’s dreamscape occasionally._

…

Dream finished telling his story. “I’m not sure about the details, but Stradakum said she was going back where she came from.” He gestured to his chest. “A soul… Your soul. It’s possible that Stradakum was forced away from your body. That means you two were whole at some point.”

He glanced to Calypso.

His eye sockets widened.

Her face kept a still expression, but her eyes-.

The color of her eyes was black with manic. Yet, with a strong composure, she held a slight disapproved look. “Watch your words, Dream.”

He gulped, “C-Cal-?”

She rose to her feet.

What Dream said didn’t make any sense.

Calypso was just herself since her birth. Later, in her thirties, Stradakum and Nightmare entered her life. Their encounters lead to more havoc.

If she and Stradakum were once a _whole_ being…

Then something happened before the Delta Rune timeline.

More theories flooded her mind. She was trying to make sense of everything.

Her normal human life. The Skeleton parents. Nightmare’s visit. Sans’ lab accident. The classic timeline. Gaster’s Box machine. The multiverse.

The dream of the lady floating in space.

Calypso widened her eyes. “Could that dream be actually a **memory**?” Her jaw clenched. “Before **me**?”

That means something, _someone_ , meddled with her life.

Her emotions led her magic energy to flicker. Sparks of a lavender light tickled her body. Dream quickly reached out for her. “Wait, Cal! Hold on! If you keep doing this, Night will-.”

Words died from his throat.

Another source of negative energy radiated from afar.

“ **What a cute picnic**.”

Black tentacles shoot towards them.

Dream fumbled to reach for his staff. Ink quickly shuffled to his feet.

_Clunk!_

Dream flinched. His arms were braced by his head. He peeked and noticed a holographic shield blocking the attack.

Same with Ink. The two glanced back to see the woman.

Magic circles floated by her shoulders and chest. Her mañanita was glowing with the same color of light.

Nightmare clicked his tongue. His eye sockets narrowed.

“Stradakum.”

Without a word, she launched a beam in exchange.

He touched easily. Before he retorts, a face was already near.

Calypso was by the side of his head.

He quickly forced himself further back.

Calypso tapped on the magic circles, rapidly shooting with pellets.

He glanced at the portal he made.

He smirked before dodging another attack.

Dream furrowed his eyebrows. He gasped, “Cal! He’s trying to bait you into the portal!”

She ignored him. Just as Nightmare shifted to the side, she found herself flying into the portal.

Nightmare was blending into the darkness. She glanced around.

A few tentacles reached for her. She jumped away.

Her fingers snapped.

A magic circle floated from under Nightmare. He jumped back before seeing chains of light activating.

He dodged a trap, but when did Cal wrote a whole magic spell on the ground?

Just as he broke from his thoughts, his eyes widened.

Calypso landed in front of him. The glow from her mañanita matched with her sharp gaze.

He jumped away. His back suddenly hit something. He turns to find a holographic shield. It grew into a sphere, trapping him inside.

Nightmare writhed around. His tentacles expanded, only to be suffocated. His tentacles retracted and a small hole forced his head out.

He activated his teleportation ability, but his body fizzed in response. He found himself trapped in Calypso's spherical barrier.

She sighed to herself. Since the post-pacifist timeline, Calypso had neglected exercises she learned from the X-Tale timeline. The holographic trap was something she experimented during her training with X-Sans. "Thank that Sans for giving me such a rough time." She rubbed the side of her neck.

Her other hand gestured a "come here" motion.

The bubble-like trap floated like a bubble. It flew to Cal, where she raises Nightmare to her eye level.

Dream squealed from the other side of the portal. “Great work, Cal!”

Before he rushed in, Cal raised her hand. He froze.

“Dream, you can’t enter. This place can drown you out.”

Dream held a worried expression. “But what if you-.”

Nightmare felt the hold tighten below his head. The barrier was closing around his neck. He choked, coughing.

Dream approached the portal, alarmed. “Brother, what’s wrong-?”

Ink reached for his paintbrush.

Calypso was acting strange. The look in her eyes were strange.

“Ink.”

The guardian paused.

Calypso glared at him. “You should’ve done a better job.”

He flinched. His fingers brushed against the wooden handle of his item.

The portal closed.

Now, only Calypso and Nightmare remain.

She drew a small magic circle. Flame spawn to her palm, tinted purple. She leans the flame to Nightmare’s cheek.

He hissed, recoiling in pain.

The rest of his body struggled in her holographic sphere. She snapped her fire away. “Strange. The Dark energy can hurt you.”

Nightmare winced. He shot her back with a glare. “You can’t keep me in here-.” He grinned, “I can tell you’re on the edge! Soon, you’ll-!”

The pressure close around his neck again.

Calypso waited until he recovered. He lifts his head again.

Her eyes remain stern. He flinched.

She was different than her past self, before all of the timeline shenanigans happened.

Cal was about to pat his head with tease but caught herself.

Even if she's in a negative place, the aura isn't affecting her as much. However, if she touches him, he’ll control her.

She leaned close. She glowered, “How did you reach my timeline?”

Nightmare grinned again. “Dying to know?”

Immediately, the bubble disintegrated. Holographic wristbands were formed on his wrists.

By sudden gravity, his body was forced to the invisible ground.

A magic circle flew to his neck. glowing symbols twirled before solidifying a thick collar. He felt it latch onto his neck and his face was forced to the ground.

Struggling, he head his head to her. A few tentacles flung in retaliation.

Sharp pains stung him.

A bright beam cut off his tentacles. Cal lowered her hand down. A few magic circles remain in the air.

“Who helped you?”

Nightmare flinched. “What made you think that?”

Cal stood by his head. “I was happy. There’s no way you could’ve entered my home.”

Nightmare struggled. As another tentacle targeted her, one of her spells short a beam. He chocked, trying to resist any pained cries. “W-Were you really though?”

Recent memories rushed to her attention. She stood up and look around the dark space around her. Nightmare's voice echoed during his attempt of manipulation.

“You-,” he coughed, “you never wanted to be _their_ caretaker. Those responsibilities were shoved onto you.” He paid close attention to her face. “Then, you left Sans to care for a brother he never wanted. You focused on your work life, your research, without a care in the world.” His smile grew wider. “You even neglected your human family-.”

Cal resisted the urge to stomp his head. A strange thought crossed her mind. “I know what you’re trying to do,” she stated, “Answer my question, or I’ll go straight to Dream.”

She faced him again. The negative deity froze.

Her eyes remain as vacant since Dream's recent statement. She elaborated, “I can get rid of him.”

He glared at her, “You can’t mean-.”

She lifts her hands to the air with a shrug. “I’m not as close to Dream as you and Stradakum were. Not that Stradakum felt anything.” She pointed to his chest with a small distance. “But you _really_ want Dream vulnerable for a reason. You want him _alive_.”

Another tentacle flung before her neck. She swatted a beam to his direction.

“Aagh!” His body fizzed. Calypso's magic restraints are preventing him from teleporting.

Steam hissed from a charred mark. “Based on my research, you are fueled by negative feelings,” she spoke, “But I wonder if you can fuel yourself with inflicted pain.”

A beam attacked his sides.

Cal knelt to his skull. Nightmare raise his head again.

His eye sockets widened. His bright teal-green eyes fizzed with realization. Their position was like the event of his birth as Nightmare. When Stradakum thought she had Nightmare pinned.

But today’s different. He’s held against his will.

And Cal is not showing mercy.

“Tell me, Night.”

He heaved while his body recovered from his injures. He spat to her boots. She took a step back.

He gasped, “Another freak… showed me a way.” He coughed. “When I saw you as a human, you were stressed.” His teeth spread into a grin. “It was my perfect chance to kill you again.” 

He choked out a laughter. “And once I get out of this trap, there’s nothing to protect you!” He cackled, “You can’t even feel happiness anymore. Your soul is nowhere to be found!”

He noticed she stayed quiet.

After reflecting her image, he scowled.

She wasn’t budging.

“You’re not in my head anymore.” Her eyes observe the realm before her. As it was completely dark, she could see new colors forming around her eye sight. Like seeing shapes after staring at the sun. “I’ve looked through Stradakum’s memories. Before you killed her, she tried to do something.” The atmosphere fell drastic. “She was about to ‘reach’ you.”

Nightmare froze. Calypso kept a close eye. “She can stabilize people’s mind, right?”

His tongue clicked. His shoulders stiffened. The barrier is closing around his neck. Just as he turns to Calypso, she was already in front of him. “You’re right, I can’t touch you. For now.” She drew a magic circle by his face. “But when I find my soul, I’ll kill you. As a reward for your brother’s help.”

“Dream won’t like that.” 

She chuckled. “He will. I will be bringing his brother back.”

Nightmare widened his eyes.

She shrugged. “Or, if you help me, I can go back home and let you be.”

“You’re not going to keep your promise.”

“Aw, don’t be a **pessimist**.” He jumped at her sudden cackle. “Damn, I think Dream’s aura is affecting me.” Her hand reached for her mouth in a midst of giggles. “Anyway, thanks for your clue. If you won’t help me, then Ink will find your accomplice.”

The restraint around his neck broke. Nightmare held a series of coughs to recover.

The black tentacles remain stunted. His energy was depleting.

Calypso turns to the side, about to summon a portal.

Her next move is to find her soul now. Her mind was now focused on Underfell Alphy's lab.

Hopefully, Underfell Papyrus isn't too mad about her disappearance again.

“I’ll return back to the Underfell timeline. If I see you there, I don’t mind detaining you again.”

Her ears caught a chuckle.

Her body received chills.

She glanced back.

His body was rumbling with his laugh.

“Did you realize how long you were gone?”

Her breath hitched.

“You, ha!” He raise his head. “Try it! Try opening your portal!” His eye lights glow. “Try find your ‘little knight!’”

Immediately, a magic circle flickered with a bright purple light. The portal didn’t open.

Again, she shook away Nightmare's strange sayings. She thought about Underfell Papyrus again. Her fingers drew another glowing circle.

The portal fail to activate. It was different than XTale. With her attempts at XTale, she would at least see a white void.

This was the first time her portal fail to open.

She asks Nightmare, “What did you do?”

He held his smile. “Things were happening while you were bouncing around.” He gestured to the other restraints around his wrists. “If you let me go, I’ll tell you everything.”

She noticed her energy growing weaker. She hesitated. “Why should I believe you?”

“Do you know the XTale timeline?”

She knelt to him. “Stop messing around.”

“Just like you, someone else is messing with the multiverse.” He held a playful frown. “It’s a shame you’re part of the classic Sans’ past. Every alternate Sans brood over their brother, but if they ever saw you-.” He clicked his tongue. “You- You would somehow redeem them. A glimmer of hope.”

Calypso blinked. “Oh.”

He shot her a glare.

“That’s why you wanted to kill me so badly.” She pointed to herself. “I’m what keeps Dream, well, dreaming.”

She then climbs to her feet. She tried creating a portal to Underfell again.

The circle continued to spark with energy, but there was no opening.

Her shoulders slumped. Her heart grew heavy for Underfell Papyrus. "Damn, I lost another kid." She drew another portal. It opened to her void laboratory. "Time to update my findings."

“Wait.”

She paused. She tilted her head.

Nightmare clutched onto the ground for support. “I’ll tell you.”

She smiles.

“I-It was,” he paused, “a strange monster. They were shattered across the multiverse.”

She raised an eyebrow. “But who are they?”

He coughed. “I don’t know. They only communicated through me by a voice. I can tell by their energy whenever they’re near.”

The woman tapped on her chin. “Aw, that kinda helped. Do they also sing?”

“What?”

Calypso recalled moments of intense singing. Occasionally, during her travels, a faint chorus would bother her ears.

It started since she left the Underfell AU in the first place.

“Singing. Like with a lot of voices.”

“N-No.” He came across a thought. “Wait. It could be one of those-.” He coughed again.

A carol of loud voices had risen. She cupped her ears, wincing. She glimpsed to the weak monster, “Night?!”

He gasped. “They’re-.” His voice increased its rasp. “h-here-.”

Calypso tried to rush for him. Before her first step, a sudden force pushed her into her portal.

It closed on its own.

Just as the singing appeared, it disappeared after the portal closed. The absence of sound felt louder than the beating of her heart. Her ears rang in pitch.

The singing had withdrawn. 

Cuz's voice welcomed her as the camera drone entered her view. "Welcome, creator."

She stumbled to her feet, ignoring her AI assistant. Her eyes remain on the wall, where the portal closed.

With the same routine, she summoned a portal.

"Night?"

The portal did not activate.

She ran back to the large monitor. Her previous pages flew through her view.

It’s not making sense. She encountered a ghost monsters, but never a just-voice entity.

Her keyboard was slammed.

“Damn it!”

Cuz watched as she threw a fit. Multiple magic circles lingered in the air. None of them opened portals.

Ever since her encounter with Ink, her sense of reality deteriorates further without ground.

Calypso held onto her shoulders. Her bun had unraveled from the recent brawl with Nightmare. She cowered on the floor. In the space above, magic circles floated around.

"C-Cuz."

"Yes, creator?"

She peeked through her hair. The monitor lay before her, hanging from the ceiling.

"Tell me," she gasps, "Tell me who I am."

Immediately, the monitor loaded a timeline with boxes and arrows.

"Calypso. Daughter of two humans, oldest sibling out of three." It projected her sketches of her family. "Occupation: Researcher in monster teleportation physics and energy nutrition for monster souls. Speaker for conferences." Then, a new box held the Skeleton family.

"Chosen caretaker of the Skeleton brothers. Successor of Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton."

"Stop."

The monitor froze at the sketches of Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton. It showed a newborn Papyrus and a grown Sans holding his mother's bucket hat. Mr. Skeleton held a Sudoku book.

"Cuz. My head," she paused, "hurts. My head hurts."

She remained on the floor of the still room. The computers beeped and hummed with power.

It lay witness to her occasional tantrums and research breakthroughs since she escaped the XTale timeline.

"Go back."

The monitor show a portrait of her human family. Messy pencil sketches did not reflect the realistic details of her family. Every drawing was disfigured. She raised her hand to the monitor.

"I forgot their faces," she whispered. Her eyes focused on the details of her younger siblings.

Everything Nightmare had said is catching up to her.

Her shoulders slumped. Her face fell to her hands.

"Is my mind-," she trailed off. Sparks of her magic flickered on her body. Her mañanita, in sync with her magic, floated with her hair. There was no existing wind nearby.

"Am I," she choked, "What am I _now_?"

With a small _thump_ , Cal's arms fell limp. Her head hung low as her body continue to sit on the floor.

A mechanical arm reached for her. "Creator?" 

Her head slowly rises.

The camera drone quickly scanned her body. As the lens zoomed to her face, Cuz noticed her body going into shock. Her mouth parted slightly.

With a light sigh, a cloud began to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you catch the meaning behind the flowers?


	14. The Soul Sings to

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Outline for the Warped Caretaker series.

Thank you for reaching this far!

You must have a lot of time in your hands.

"..."

There is one more book left to end Calypso's journey.

But!

There will be a few books with events that leads to the beginning of the Warped Caretaker.

So here's an Outline:

Warped Caretaker Series:

1\. Her Head Was in the Clouds.

2\. Her Soul Is in the Wrong Place

3\. And Her Feet Hurt.

4\. Alas, Her Endurance is Sound

5\. With her Mind Unrest.

6\. The Soul Sings to

7\. [To be updated]

Prequels: Events prior to Calypso

1\. [To be updated]

2\. [To be updated]

3\. The Ace Family: The events surrounding Sans and Papyrus' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton. ([Link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29752581)).

And one LONG book with details of Calypso's journey through twelve timelines after classic Gaster's lab accident.

Links will be provided once the books are published.

"..."

Hopefully.

When the series is completed...

My brain would stop daydreaming.

_(°:з」∠)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a rusted gold star. (￣▽￣)V☆


End file.
